Master of the House
by Hexgar
Summary: After years of psychological torture from the villagers, Naruto finally breaks, leaving a shell of a human being. Will he recover? Will he Kill everyone? Will he ever get around to kicking Sasuke's face in? Find out
1. Prologue

Ok, Please be gentle, this is my first fic, it's really not that original and I don't have a beta reader, which means that I will probably miss many of my own grammatical mistakes.  
  
By the way, if I owned Naruto, then I'd be very rich, but since I don't I have to put this disclaimer here, saying I don't.  
  
-----Master of the House----- Prologue:  
  
It was shaking again, his perfect little world, another crack had shown itself in the middle of his dream yet again, but as it had been doing more and more frequently, the cracks weren't healing. He stopped what he was doing and dismissed his fantasies and began to count the cracks, over a hundred at least, he shuddered at the meaning of this, his world was collapsing, he would soon need to give the "fabrication" a rest or it would totally collapse, leaving him to fend for himself, and he never wanted to return to the world if he could help it. He tapped into what the fabrication was experiencing, 'hmmm, a battle, with Uchiha. What has that fool done now', as he began to tap into the fabrications memories to update himself on what has happened.  
Naruto was bleeding, badly, he had taken a chidori to the chest and was starting to get desperate, Sasuke on the other hand was not looking nearly as bad, a scratch here, a cut there, but for the most part unhurt. Naruto and Sasuke lunged at each other again, going back in forth in there dance of death with Naruto getting closer and closer to defeat. In a last ditch attempt Naruto tried to form a rasengan but found the pain of his wounds breaking his concentration to properly pull off the jitsu. In his lapse of focus, Sasuke jammed a kunai into Naruto's neck, causing him to fall to his knees and gasp for air as blood poured down his throat.  
  
"You are far too weak to ever defeat me, dobe, what were you thinking trying to fight me, learn your place in the world", Sasuke said as he kicked Naruto in the face and stepped on his chest.  
  
"I just wanted to be your friend, or at the very least, your comrade...", Naruto said in a raspy voice as he ripped the kunai from his throat.  
  
"A friend?, a Friend!?!, why would I ever want to be friends with a poor excuse for a ninja, someone not even worth my time. You were a fool for even considering someone superior to you, a "friend".  
  
This was bad, his reality was cracking left and right, the fabrication couldn't take the added stress of rejection from one of the few people he cared about, it was time, he had to delve back into the real world and save his physical body as well as give the fabrication some time to heal his wounds.  
  
Sasuke noticed something immediately about Naruto, his eyes, they seemed incredibly cold, far more so then his own usual demeanor, these eyes seem to stare at him with absolute nothingness. Sasuke, returning to his senses, lowered his kunai to his once friends neck, he was going to make the killing blow, his first kill, and yet those eyes plagued him, causing yet another moment of hesitation, giving Naruto the time to slip free of his captor's grasp and disappear into the forest that he and Sasuke were now battling in.  
  
"Come back here dobe, it will only hurt for a moment", Sasuke yelled into the sea of tree's  
  
While, quite loathing the fact that he fact to personally interact with the real world yet again in a life threatening situation, did enjoy the feel of reality. While his dream world did provide an eternities worth of pleasure and escape, it lacked the subtle touches that the real world had, the feeling of the mist of the waterfall on his skin, the slight breeze that was passing through his hair, and the beauty that could only be created by the total randomness of nature that was the landscape, and for all of this, it made interaction worth it for the little while he would be here. From the top of the tree he was hiding in, he surveyed his surroundings, keeping tabs on Sasuke's location as he began to formulate a plan. After a few moments he created several kage bunshins and ran towards Sasuke as his clones went off in different directions.  
  
'Damn it, where did that runt run off to', Sasuke mentally cursed. Scanning his surrounding for both visual signs as well as chakra signatures, he saw nothing. Marching forward, he saw a flash a yellow, throwing a kunai in its direction he turned to see it hit nothing, then again in his peripheral vision he saw it again, then again, throwing kunai each time, and always missing.  
  
"Damn it!, get out here dobe and fight me, or are you to much of a coward!!", Sasuke screamed  
  
"For a ninja, you are awfully loud.", Naruto said as he slowly walked out from behind a tree with an impassive face.  
  
"Finally come to die"  
  
"Death is a luxury beyond my grasp, but please feel free to try and end my misery."  
  
Sasuke charged at Naruto as he just stood there, doing nothing. Slowly realizing that Naruto's lack of movement was probably a trap, he began to look for sign, but he was too late as he realized that all of the sudden several items in the forest, like leaves and rocks suddenly became Naruto and jumped him, holding him still as Naruto, the one standing still, charged with speeds faster than Sasuke though Naruto could move at, threw a fist with enough force to the Uchiha's abdomen to cause him to lose consciousness. Sighing as he was quite tired from today's events he quickly jammed kunai into Sasuke's joints and muscles all over his arms and legs ensuring that even if the Uchiha heir were to regain consciousness he would be unable to move. With his work done, he wanted nothing more to do with the real world, he attempted to give control back to the fabrication, but found that he couldn't. 'Odd' he though, and proceeded to examine his own mind, finding that the fabrication was curled into a little ball, riddled with cracks and tears which appeared to be healing but incredibly slowly. He was left with one of two options, either continue to exist, or escape into his own mind and attempt to create yet another personality, similar to the first, that would take over, but that would mean leaving his body unprotected while creating said personality, so he was left with choice one. Picking up Sasuke back in the real world, he headed back to where he had left Rock Lee in hopes of joining up with his team mates and getting the hell back to Leaf, one problem, he need to successfully convince the other's that he was Naruto, or at least wasn't an imposter.  
  
"Shit, looks like more time in hell", Naruto grumbled, "I'd leave you behind, but there's always the chance you could grow more powerful and cause my other half more problems and since I want to minimize my real world outings, I guess I have to take you back.....damn it you're heavy", Naruto continued to the unconscious Uchiha on his back as he headed to the field he left Lee in. 


	2. Chapter 1

I don't own these characters, don't sue me  
  
By the way, since I have no idea how the manga will turn out, lets just say that the fic is AU, also there will be pairings later, some het, as in Naruto's, sorry I just can't see him as gay, and some shonen-ai, mostly background characters, don't worry homophobes, it will just be mentioned that they are together, that's as far as it goes.  
  
Also, thanks to those of you who reviewed, I'll take your comments into consideration, but since I am lousy at humor, for the most part, I can't make any promises  
  
------Master of the House-------  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Naruto jumped out of a tree and landed in the field where he left Lee, only to find a sea of sand and bones and a tired looking pair that was Lee and Gaara. Apprehensive to drop his guard around Lee and especially Gaara, Naruto put down the unconscious form of Sasuke by a tree and slowly walked over to them, keeping a good ten feet between them.  
  
"Why are you here?", Naruto asked, looking directly at Gaara, who seemed to be resting against a tree  
  
"Hokage-sama sent him, along with others to help us, and boy did he make short work of that guy with the bones", Lee responded  
  
"Ah"  
  
Naruto sat down next to the collapsed for of Sasuke and tried to get the fabrication to take hold, but again it wouldn't. Naruto silently cursed to himself and rested staying far away from Lee and Gaara as he never wanted to deal with people more than he had to. Eventually Shikamaru and Temari, followed by Kankuro and Kiba arrived.  
  
"Good, I see you got him, lets get out of here before this mission becomes anymore troublesome", Shikamaru said, turning and starting to walk towards Konoha  
  
Everyone started to follow as Naruto picked up Sasuke and followed the crowd, staying at least ten feet behind the last person. Keeping up they eventually reached Neji's unconscious form, followed by a barely recognizable Chouji. After gathering their remaining allies, the group left for Konoha at a more relaxed pace as they were with in Fire countries borders. An hour had passed and it was mid afternoon when Kiba smelled something, and said someone was following them. Naruto immediately handed Sasuke over to Lee when Kiba said they were sound, someone ridiculously powerful.  
  
"Naruto?", Lee asked questioningly as he received Sasuke  
  
"We're only 30 minutes away from Konoha, 15 if you travel fast.", Naruto said with an indifferent expression on his face, "I will buy you the time you need, if he is power as you say, send Jiraiya to aid me when you get back"  
  
"But you can't take on someone that strong, you'll never win", said Kiba  
  
"I don't have to win, I just have to delay them", Naruto said as he stopped moving throughout the trees, "I do it because you are precious to him"  
  
Shikamaru sighed and said, "Come on everyone, lets not waist this opportunity" as he speed off with the confused group following  
  
"You better not die, only I get to kick you ass", Kiba screamed as he ran off  
  
Naruto sighed and quickly created several shadow clones to form a kind of net to ensure whoever was coming found him. 10 minutes later two men arrived, one was a man Naruto recognized as Kabuto, the other had blond hair and was wrapped in bandages.  
  
"Ahhh, the Kyubi child, so have you come to stop me", snickered the blond man, then turned to the other, "Kabuto, go a fetch Sasuke-kun for me"  
  
'Alright monster, time I collected on rent, I suggest you pay up, especially since you may get to kill out of this', Naruto thought as he pulled on Kyubi's chakra, finding a lot more then he was expecting. Almost like a drug his mind started to enter a bloodlust, with just enough control for Naruto to tell his body what to do. As Kabuto started to move around Naruto, a flash of red was seen from where Naruto was standing, only to have the blond man here a sickening crunch to his side. There he saw Kabuto with Naruto standing behind him, his clawed hand ripping threw the back of Kabuto's neck and out the front. Before the other man could respond, a evil guttural laugh erupted from Naruto, "Regenerate this" he said plainly as he ripped his hand back out of Kabuto's neck and spun kick with enough force to knock the head clear off. Before the finish of the spin, Naruto found himself kicked into a neighboring tree.  
  
"Impressive, to kill Kabuto so fast, but do you really expect such thing to work on me" cackled the blond man  
  
"Five minutes", Naruto said quietly as he got up  
  
"Hmmm?, what about five minutes"  
  
"You have to defeat me and catch up to the group in five minutes, otherwise, you will have to deal with the Hokage and Jiraiya, and I doubt that you are that powerful"  
  
"We shall see" the blond man said as he disappeared only to reappear next to Naruto, grabbing him by the neck. "Hmmm, since I won't be able to get Sasuke this way, I might as well punish you for holding me up" he said, smile turning more into a wicked grin.  
  
"I expected no less", Naruto said, "Doesn't mean I'll make it any easier for you", he said revealing bright red eyes  
  
Jiraiya was racing, he had heard that Naruto had stayed behind to stop someone extremely powerful, and from what that Shikamaru kid had said, it sounded like Naruto wasn't planning returning alive. He jumped another branch and landed in a clearing, and what he saw was enough to make the great san-nin sick to his stomach, the area was littered with ripped flesh and torn orange fabric. Some of the body parts were recognizable, but most weren't. In the center was a large lump of flesh and bone.  
  
"Jeez, no man deserves to die like this", he said a he picked up the shredded remains of a blue head band, revealing what was left of Naruto's face. "Ugh, sorry kid, look like I failed you too"  
  
"FOOLISH CHILD, I CAN NOT BE DESTROYED, AND THANKS TO THIS DAMNED SEAL, NEITHER CAN HE", said a loud malevolent voice coming from the pile of flesh. A small orange globe with the 4th's seal glowing on it rose out of the mound with strings or flesh attached to it.  
  
"Good gods", Jiraiya said as he looked into the face of pure evil  
  
Ok, so I am ending this chapter here, I'm tired, I still don't have a beta reader, stupid friends and their stupid lives, and I need to organize my thoughts on how I am going to play out what happens next. 


	3. Chapter 2

Sorry for the delay, I lost the internet for a few days, and I have been having problems working out how I was going to go about a certain part of this story.  
  
Ok, reviewers, THANK YOU!!  
  
And also to answer your questions:  
  
Yes that is Orochimaru with Kabuto, I just figure he wouldn't go around saying who he was to everyone he came across, sorry for the confusion  
  
Jiraiya is more concerned about the bloody mess of flesh and orange cloth, I'm sure Kabuto's body is still there somewhere, or maybe Orochimaru dragged it off to revive him, who knows, he may come back as a convenient plot device  
  
While I can't prove any of this, my argument is that Orochimaru would regain access to his arms once he was in a new body, at least in the beginning, or maybe not at all, but for this fic, that's how it's going to work, just as a plot device  
  
Finally, yes Naruto (the one inside his head, the real one) refers to his other personality as him, as it really doesn't have a name, also, since I don't trust my own writing ability, that scene in the last chapter is to give you the idea that maybe Naruto likes the fake Naruto more than he lets on  
  
Ok, now onto the fic, and I am in the process of acquiring a beta reader, but it may be awhile. No that doesn't mean I'll stop writing chapters, it just means that it may be a few chapters before the beta reader begins, so please continue to bear with me.  
  
Oh yeah, one last last thing, I am starting to bold Kyubi's words, it's better than all caps  
  
--------Master of the House-------- Chapter 2  
  
Jiraiya was looking into blood red eyes of pure hatred and malevolence, the world around him began to go dark and he found himself standing in front of a giant gate of iron bars, with said eyes floating behind them. Holding in his fear and hiding it as best as possible, he put on the face of confidence with a slight smirk and said, "My best student does good work"  
  
"**Ahh, a tasty morsel appears before me, I usually prefer something younger, but maybe like wine, you have gotten better with age**", Kyubi said with a slight grin  
  
"You said he was alive monster, where is he"  
  
"**We are inside him, for someone who taught the man who did this to me, I expected you to be brighter**"  
  
"Then why have you brought me here"  
  
"**Return at sundown, he will be finished healing enough then, now go**", and with that Kyubi waved his paw and Jiraiya disappeared from the room, "**I told him like you asked whelp**"  
  
"Good", said Naruto as he walked out of the shadows, "I have work to do, and so do you, and now get back to it" and with that he returned to the shadows.  
  
Jiraiya found himself back in the middle of the forest. Not wanting to be around this gore anymore, he took his leave. 'If I go back to the village and return with a medic nin, it should be sun down by the time I return', and with that Jiraiya head off to Konoha.  
  
An hour later, Jiraiya returned to the clearing with Shizune, shocking them both at what they saw. In the clearing was a great amount of blood stains, but no bodies, Jiraiya, shocked by the lack of gore and Naruto and Shizune by the sheer amount of blood.  
  
"My god, what happened here, it looks like a massacre", Shizune said, almost feeling slightly sick.  
  
"You should have been here an hour ago, there was..." Jiraiya started to say but was interrupted.  
  
"Your late, sundown was 5 minutes ago" came a harsh, raw voice from behind a tree  
  
"Naruto, that you?", Jiraiya asked as he walked over to the tree and around, what he saw there was something that would probably haunt him for the rest of his days, there sat Naruto or what was left of him. As he stood he revealed more of his gruesome form, a body lacking most of it's skin, places where muscle barely covered any bone, and worst of all was his left eye, in where a bright blue eyeball use to sit was an empty socket, lacking an eye lid and revealing a small glowing red ball of light just floating there. "My god, he said you would be done by sundown"  
  
"Hand me a cloak or something to cover me completely", Naruto said with almost no emotion in his voice, "I recommend I cover up so no one has to see me like this, your medic nin included"  
  
"Shizune, a cloak, or something, plus the clothes I brought"  
  
"Shouldn't I look at him first, make sure he's alright", she asked  
  
"Believe me, you don't want to see this, you can examine him once we are back in the Konoha and in the hospital"  
  
Once Naruto was dressed and covered from head to toe, with just his right eye poking out to see where he was going the three left. Both noticed as they traveled that Naruto kept a ten foot distance between them at all times, and when they asked if he needed to stop and rest he said he was fine and they should keep moving. When they eventually returned to Konoha, and got Naruto into a hospital, he finally revealed his form to Shizune who was shocked but not so much so as Jiraiya who was now looking at a boy who still missed most of his skin, but his flesh had evened out, looking as if he had been badly burned, he still looked bad, but no where near as bad as he did in the forest. He decided that it was best to keep this quite, but to tell Tsunade later.  
  
"Well Naruto-san, we can patch you up for many of these injuries, but there's nothing we can do for your eye, it looks severely damaged, it might need to be removed to avoid infection", Shizune said solemnly  
  
"I will be fine, I just need time to rest, so please patch me up and let me go home", Naruto replied almost immediately with a slight hint of exhaustion.  
  
"But I really think you should stay in the hospital", said Shizune who was grabbing for Naruto's arm, only to have him back away from her  
  
"No", Naruto growled, then regained his composure, "please don't touch me"  
  
Jiraiya sensed something, then forced Shizune out of the room with him self and told Naruto to stay put, Tsunade greeted him once the door was closed  
  
"How is he", Tsunade asked  
  
"He is fine, I suspect by tomorrow morning he should be back to near top physical condition", Jiraiya said  
  
"But Jiraiya-sama, he is missing a lot of skin, plus his eye, he needs to stay here in the hospital, he will need weeks, if not months of recuperation", Shizune pleaded as Tsunade looked concerned at what she heard.  
  
"When I found him in the woods an hour and a half ago, the forest floor was covered with what I can only describe as looking like he had been ground into hamburger meat, when I returned with you he was missing a lot of his skin and much of his muscle, his hands were almost skeletal and he didn't even have a left eye", Jiraiya said, "Look at him only 30 minutes later, he is re-growing his skin, his muscle has all returned and he started to re- grow his left eye."  
  
"Kyubi?" Tsunade said  
  
"He talked to me when I initially found the boy, he told me when to return and also that Naruto can't die, whether or not this is true, what happened today definitely proves that he can recover from almost any wound at ridiculous speeds", Jiraiya answered her, "But what worries me the most is how he acted just a moment ago, plus the trip back, he doesn't want to be touched, I think whatever happened out there really screwed with his mind"  
  
"Ok, patch him up and send him home, I'm going to put an ANBU on him to observe him, make sure that nothing is wrong, that he doesn't hurt the village, or himself.", Tsunade said  
  
"Make sure it's someone you trust, I've seen how the people in the village look at him."  
  
"Alright", and with that Jiraiya and Shizune reentered the room and Tsunade left. Shizune patched up Naruto best she could, but Naruto would let her touch him too much, but begrudgingly, he eventually let her do her job. When she was finished she gave him some herbs for a tea to help with the pain. Naruto and Jiraiya left for Naruto's apartment, where Naruto was to stay until further notice as Shizune and Tsunade would be stopping by tomorrow to check on him. As Jiraiya left and Naruto lay down to sleep, wincing at the pain of re-growing skin, he entered slumber and back into the confines of his mind while his body rest.  
  
"How are you feeling" he asked the small form on the floor.  
  
"Tired, don't wanna go back out there, only pain out there", the small blond headed child responded. With hesitation, Naruto sat down and pulled the boy who seemed terrified of being touched, into a hug where he rocked the boy back and forth and told him all would be alright. When morning began to approach, the two got up.  
  
"Are you ready to return?" Naruto asked  
  
"Yup!!", the boy, now a copy of Naruto with a huge grin replied  
  
"Good, be careful out there, and remember, the Hokage and her assistant are coming to ask you what happened on the mission, do you remember what I told you to say"  
  
"Un-huh"  
  
"Good, now go there and great those who care about you", and with that the boy with the grin, still lightly covered in small cracks, left for another place while Naruto began to rework his fantasy, to return to his world where no one can ever get him. With one last thought before he let the fantasy take him, 'I have to be more careful, or next time I may not be able to save him', and with that he let all his troubles float away in his perfect dream world.  
  
OK, that's all for now, I am tired again and I still have to figure out how I will write next part, the exact wording of what I want to do is giving me trouble, either way, enjoy and review, and for those of you who have, I love ya 


	4. Chapter 3

My beautiful and wonderful reviewers, I love you all  
  
Just a quick note, Shizune for the purposes of my story is a shop-o-holic, while I can't prove this based on the manga or anime, can you disprove it, other than the whole "Tsunade-sama, please don't gamble our money" thing, unless she doesn't want her to gamble it away so she could buy things with it.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, although if I did, I'd kill off Sasuke and turn him into Sasuke skin shoes, with a matching Sakura skin bag (This is not a good chapter for people who like Sasuke and Sakura, unless you like to not like them in which case, go for it)  
  
--------Master of the House-------

Chapter 3  
  
Naruto rubbed his eyes as he opened the door to let in Tsunade and Shizune. After pleasantries, both Tsunade and Shizune examined Naruto's wrappings and bandages to reveal all of his skin had re-grown and left not even a scar, but he did take on some interesting changes. His hair had grown out long, as most of his hair had been gone, his finger and toenails had developed a red tint as well as a slight point to them. The lines on his checks resembled the face painting of the Inuzuka clan, more so then the simple wire thin lines that were there before. These thicker lines went down his face and around the back of his neck to connect to a central marking down his spine. At the base of this line split off eight more such markings of which four wrapped around his arms and legs, while two went over his shoulders down the front, and the remaining two went up his sides just before meeting above his abdominal muscles. The markings splint off at the wrist and ankle to each individual digit, ending at the nail. The last of the new markings we're two red lines that started on either side of the bottom of his nose and went up to surround his eyes to go off around the side of his face to travel around the inner part of each ear (a/n: for a better idea think something like what Orochimaru has on his face that just continues off to his ears). Something not so new to Naruto, but didn't seem to be disappearing anytime soon was his seal; it seems to be drawn, like the rest of the markings, in blood, his own. Of all the changes, the most disconcerting was his left eye, fully restored, but no longer blue, but the whole eyeball was a solid blood red with a black slit down the center. Just the sight made both Shizune and even the legendary Tsunade shudder slightly.  
  
"Alright, now that we are done with the examination, I want you to tell me what happened after you separated from Rock Lee and went after Uchiha- san.", Tsunade asked.  
  
"I remember chasing after him and catching up, then we fought, it kind of goes cloudy after that, and then I remember taking him back to the group and eventually leaving for Konoha. After awhile, Kiba said he smelled something, so I said I'd stay behind and distract them, but I don't remember much after that, just a man with blond hair and yellow eyes", Naruto said  
  
"Anything else"  
  
"Then Jiraiya found me at sunset and took me to the hospital, but also is kinda fuzzy"  
  
"Alright then", Tsunade said warily, "well first we have to deal with your um, new look"  
  
"HEY!!, what's wrong with it, I look awesome, no way Sakura-chan won't thin I rock now", Naruto protested  
  
"Well that may be the case, but remember what's inside you, you and others your age may like it, but you seem to have taken on some more of the fox's looks, if you don't cover up, you may start a panic"  
  
"Fine, I guess", he pouted  
  
"Ah come on Naruto-san, we'll make you look good, I can get you some clothing right now", Shizune chimed in  
  
"Good, anything is better than that awful orange jumpsuit you wear", Tsunade say slyly  
  
"Hey what's wrong with it!!", Naruto argued  
  
"Nothing.....if you want every ninja in the world to spot you"  
  
"Grrrrrr, you're just jealous of my great ninja skills, an old lady like you can't be that good of a ninja, O-Ba-CHAN!!"  
  
"Why you little Brat", Tsunade said as she picked him up by his collar  
  
"Now, now, Naruto-san, Tsunade-sama is a very powerful and very busy ninja, she has work to do, and I need to go get you some clothes", Shizune said trying to diffuse the situation, "now stay here and I will be back in a few hours with some new clothes for you"  
  
"But I can't afford new clothes, money is tight", Naruto said solemnly  
  
"That's ok brat", Tsunade said putting him down, "you and your teammates did such a good job on the mission, I'll give you a bonus, some new clothes and some spending money"  
  
"Can't I just have the money, or OH!!, better yet, some ramen!!"  
  
"NO!!!", both Tsunade and Shizune said at the same time  
  
"Jeez", Naruto pouted  
  
A few hours later Shizune returned with a bunch of clothing and wraps for Naruto to wear, all black and red. At first Naruto looked skeptical, but when he tried them on, he liked what he saw, all the clothing was loose enough to easily move in, but not so baggy to get in the way. He wore black pants like Jiraiya's but with red leg wrappings all the way down to his black sandals. On his chest he wore a black t-shirt with no sleeves, and a black vest with red trim overtop. His arms were wrapped, in the same black cloth as his calves, up to his wrists, along with a black arm-guard like Jiraiya's with black open finger gloves on each hand. Lastly, he wore a black cloth mask over the lower half of his face, with a special mask to cover the top half of his face that allowed him to see out, but other not to see in, that had the leaf emblem etched into the forehead. Since the mask was slightly armored, Shizune got Naruto a black hitae (spelling?, it's that armored headband they all wear) to wear around his waist as a belt. All in all, Naruto thought he looked cool, and Shizune was just glad to get him something he liked.  
  
The first thing that he noticed when he went out in public for the first time was that while people were definitely looking at him, it was more out of curiosity or suspicion, at least until they saw the Konoha headband, and not with the usual disgust and hatred. Even for Naruto, it wasn't hard for him to realize that people wouldn't treat him like dirt if they didn't know it was him, so for once, he kept his voice down and stayed quiet. This went on for several weeks, every day he would dress in his new clothes, blend into the surrounding and train, either on his own or with Jiraiya when he was available, occasionally stopping to visit his teammates in the hospital. For Naruto this was a much needed vacation, as well as one of the loneliest times in his life. But as lonely as he was he also began to strengthen his relationships with Shikamaru, Kiba, Chouji, Rock Lee and yes, even Neji. While they were weirded out by Naruto's new appearance, they didn't pry. This went on for two months as many of the rookie nine found that Naruto was a far more complex creature then they initially realized. For Naruto, it looked as if his psychological troubles were over.  
  
About this time, Kakashi returned to the village with a supposedly better Sasuke. It was kept a secret so very few knew of it, it wasn't until lights were spotted as being on in the Uchiha estate did the rumors of his return start to circulate. Naruto, like any other day had completed his training for the day as was going to visit his friends in the recovery/physical therapy wing of the hospital, when suddenly one very disgruntled Uchiha bumped into him in the street.  
  
"Excuse me, I wasn't looking where I was go....Sasuke?", Naruto said surprised  
  
"You!!! You though you could hide from me dobe, you got lucky in the forest, there's no way you could ever beat me." Sasuke said with a voice full of venom and loud enough for everyone in the market place to hear him, "I will KILL YOU, NARUTO!!!"  
  
"I don't want to fight you, Sasuke, we're friends", Naruto said, but it was too late, Sasuke began attacking him, and Naruto didn't want to attack his friend, so he desperately defended himself, trying to think up away to defeat him quickly. His thoughts were drowned out by the screams of the people in the market place, now aware of his identity, they wanted blood. Screams of kill the monster, destroy the beast, murder the demon could be heard, people blaming him for every bad thing in his life, including Sasuke's defection. These things were all bearable, until Naruto saw her, the one he liked, loved with all his heart cheering for his defeat and Sasuke's victory. He couldn't take it, it was too much, his mind began to cascade with every dark image, every dark memory he had acquired in his short life, and it was all consuming. Soon the very of fabric of Naruto's world collapsed, ending in total darkness.  
  
It was at this time that Naruto, his true self, absorbed in fantasy and satisfied with the mental state of his fabrication over these two months had memories jammed right into his mind, this instantaneous pain was far too much for him to bear and stop his world from collapsing. He felt a great pull on his, he was going back, his world had collapsed, and the only person in this world that he cared for dead, Naruto felt one thing and one thing only, Rage, blood thirsty, all consuming rage.  
  
"Had enough DOBE!!", Sasuke smirked as he stopped pummeling on Naruto  
  
"mu-d—r", Naruto said mottled, drowned out by the cheers of the crowd  
  
"I'm sorry, what did you say do-be-kun"  
  
"**MURDERER!!!**" Naruto responded in an otherworldly voice, deep and full of rage  
  
At this moment the crowd died down and Sasuke went to punch Naruto one last time to finish it, Sasuke was blown back by a wave of dark and rage consumed chakra. Getting up, and glowing red, Naruto walked over to Sasuke and picked him up by his neck and off the ground.  
  
"Murderer!!, He wanted your friendship, he wanted nothing more than to be your friend and how do you repay him, oblivion, your arrogance is your weakness, a weakness to yourself, a weakness to your clan and to this village. I will make you PAY!! For what you've done" Naruto said with utter anger and rage filling every word as he began to squeeze Sasuke's throat. Sakura, at this point decided to try and save the boy she loved by attacking Naruto, but failed as her kick did nothing but cause her to fall on her ass.  
  
"And YOU!!! You are the other reason for his pain, you are just as responsible as he is.", Naruto said as he reached down and picked her up by her throat as well, "All he wanted was your love, or at the very least friendship, but you were to obsessed with this murderer to see him. Every hit, every unkind word was a nail in his coffin till you help drive him to the breaking point, sealing his fate.", Naruto turned to face the crowd, holding both his teammates by their necks, "You call me a monster, yet what have I ever done to you, I defend this village with my life every day, I sweat blood and tears to defend this place, for what reason, for you trash, you insignificant ants who have the nerve to tell me I don't have the right to exist", before the crowd could respond, two kunai hit Naruto in the arms causing him to drop both the unconscious forms of Sasuke and Sakura  
  
"I think we should discuss this in private Naruto", said a voice from behind Naruto  
  
"Well if it isn't the other piece to the puzzle", said Naruto as he ripped the Kunai from his arms, "Come to protect your prized student and his mindless follower"  
  
"You know I can't let you hurt them Naruto, just back away from them and we can go discuss this in a more private location", Kakashi said, a little disturbed by how Naruto's chakra felt different, angry but still in full control, unlike the horrible control he usually shows  
  
"Why, so you can let them get away with murder again, you never seemed to mind when they hurt me time and time again", Naruto said, then spat, "you're as bad as the rest of them Kakashi-san"  
  
"NOW!!", Kakashi yelled as three other Jounin jumped out of nowhere and attacked Naruto in hopes of disabling him enough to calm down  
  
"NO!!! DON'T TOUCH ME!!!", Naruto screamed as the Jounin attack and restrained him, listening to the bloodthirsty screams of the crowd in the market place.  
  
"**NOOOO!!!!!!!**" was the last thing the three Jounin heard before they were thrown clear by Naruto, only to watch him be covered by living fire that was chakra that seemed to surround and protect him, until in completely covered him, solidifying, leaving a blood red crystal in the middle of the market place that was quickly surrounded by ANBU, as other ANBU caused the crowd to disperse as they grabbed the crystal and headed for the Hokage's office.

Ok, that's all for today, this is my longest chapter yet, and considering some of my favorite fan fics I realize that it is nothing, but for me, it seemed like a lot. My next chapter should be out in a couple days, that's the way I like to do it. And again thanks for all the reviews. 


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, doesn't that make you want to cry  
  
My wonderful reviewers, I love you all even more so, and to answer the only real question I got, or I guess critique, I wasn't quite sure how to drag on the chastising of Sasuke and Sakura any longer, sorry if it wasn't enough.  
  
Ok this where I start dealing with the heavier stuff, like romance, heavy you ask, it means a heavy workload for me, but am I complaining, nope, I love this stuff, just a warning thought, there will be some less than wholesome stuff in his chapter involving imaginations and some self gratification, if it weirds you out to read about 13 year olds pleasing themselves, then don't read this chapter, but that means you obviously don't remember being 13. Now before you all start screaming at me for being a pervert, a badge I wear proudly, this will be a very small part of the over all smut which should take place later in my story, a much later chapters as I will be aging them at some point, just not sure when. Oh one last thing, as I am male, I haven't the foggiest how the female gender truly gets off by themselves, other than the usual stereotypical stuff I have heard, so I apologize in advance if I get it wrong.  
  
-------Master of the House--------

Chapter 4  
  
It had taken her three days, but she had finally gotten that crystal off of him, and now he lay in a hospital bed in a deep coma. Tsunade was tired and needed to rest as well as get back to her Hokage duties, plus she had to come up with damage control. Her job was made a little bit easier when some of the younger generation, Nara Shikamaru, had witnessed the whole event, saying that Naruto was the one who was attacked and didn't fight back at first. What worried her was something Nara-san had said to her that he seemed to snap, plus he was talking about Uchiha-san as if he had killed someone, who only Naruto knew as Uchiha-san seemed to be confused by this as well. On her way out she assigned Naruto to be watched over by her new student, one Hyuga Hinata, who had shown more than enough proficiency with medicine to be a medical nin of at least Chuunin status. As a part of rebuilding the village, she was having Genin begin to special instead of waiting until Chuunin, this way she could fill more of the necessary nin positions faster, and Hinata had been recommended by her sensei.  
  
After a week of no improvement on Naruto's part, Tsunade attempted to wake him using a difficult medical jitsu, but it came with risks, it would awaken each part of the brain over a few minutes starting with the most primitive, and considering Naruto, that could be very dangerous. But feeling that she had run out of options she decided to go ahead and attempt it. Calling in Shizune, Jiraiya and three ANBU she started the jitsu, with what looked like no results. Hinata, thinking she heard something, got close to his face to notice that he was sniffing something, sniffing her to be exact. At that moment he opened his eyes and jumped up. Ripping off his clothes he viewed as restrictive, Naruto clad only in pants and his arm wrappings, grabbed Hinata and jumped to the corner of the ceiling holding her in his hand, sniffing her, her neck specifically. When one of the ANBU tried to grab him he growled with enough menace to get him to back off. Naruto then began to examine Hinata more closely, taking in her scent and examining her, with a face that would seem quite out of place on the Naruto they new, but more so on Jiraiya or Kakashi.  
  
"What is he doing", asked one of the masked ANBU  
  
"No idea, but he doesn't seem to be hurting her", Jiraiya noted  
  
"Well, right now he is operating on primitive instincts, which would mean, OH!!, oh my, Hinata-san, are you due for you monthly visitor soon", Tsunade asked the already blushing girl  
  
"Umm...EEEEK!!!", Hinata squeaked as she started to answer as Naruto began to nibble at her neck, causing her to blush to the point where her pail skin seemed to glow, "Y yes hhHokage-sssama" she stuttered as Naruto continued his ministrations, not allowing anyone to get too close to him and his so called hostage  
  
"HA!!, I was right, he smelled her in heat, I forgot that he just turned 13, must be in the throws of puberty, his instinct is telling him to mate with her", Tsunade said with pride and without the least bit of tact  
  
"mmmmate!?!", Hinata said before she looked at Naruto and then promptly blushed to a degree not thought possible and fainted  
  
At this point Naruto's higher brain functions seemed to re activate, blushing at what he was just doing, he put the unconscious girl down on the ground gently. After putting her down his face looked to the group in the room and turned quite cold, "leave me be, I want nothing more to do with you", and with that his eyes closed as he collapsed.  
  
After taking care of the Hinata and getting Naruto hooked back up to his support devices Tsunade, Shizune and Jiraiya returned to her office.  
  
"I don't understand it, why is staying unconscious, he seemed absolutely disgusted with us", Shizune said quietly  
  
"I'm not sure, but it's not like we can force him to come out. One thing that is bothering me thou, from what I read of that Nara kid's report, it sounds like two different people, plus there have been events in the past where this sort of thing, also his talking in third person, all very weird" Jiraiya said as he puffed on his pipe  
  
"As for his psychological state, I can't say, I only know so much about the mind, but forcing him out there is one option, the Yamanaka clan, they specialize in mind based jitsu." Tsunade added, "but a problem is that all three of the elder Yamanaka's are out on missions, that only leaves the daughter of the youngest son, an Ino, I think she is the same age as Naruto"  
  
"That's awfully risky, shouldn't we wait for one of the older Yamanaka's to return"  
  
"The longer we wait the more he will deteriorate physically, and the soonest they will be back is a month"  
  
"Alright, but I still don't think this is a good idea, beside, what about the Kyubi, are you going to risk her finding out"  
  
From what I understand of the Fourth's seal, it should separate Naruto's mind from the demon, and even if she does find out we can make her swear a blood oath.", Tsunade said as she got up to leave the room, "I am going to arrange for it now" and she walked out the door  
  
"I just hope her desire to save the boy isn't blinding her", Jiraiya said as he jumped out the window  
  
Hinata laid there, her mind reeling from the sensory overload of yesterday. The feel of his nose and lips and tongue at the base of her neck, his smelling her, taking in her scent, that look of total want in his eye's thing she never knew she wanted from anyone, and something she could never in her wildest imagination from Naruto. Sure she said she loved Naruto, and his constant drive to never give up against all odds inspired her to do better and make him proud, but now some was different, he made her feel something different and yet similar, when she thought of him now, it made her twitch, right in the center of her womanhood. Feeling slightly dirty for having such thoughts, especially thought about her idol and secret love Naruto, just didn't seem right to her, as if he was above such things. As she entered the water of her bath and tried her best to banish such though, they wouldn't leave her, before she knew it her hand of its own accord went south and found something Hinata didn't know she had pleasure and lust. Just touching her self lightly made her shiver and she had to bite down on her bottom lip to avoid Kurenai in the next room from hearing her. As her movements increased her thoughts of Naruto also increased, of him doing this to her, of his hands all over her, of him kissing her as much as he wanted, all over her body. With a muffled scream Hinata laid back in the bath and savored her afterglow as she felt even dirtier for doing such a thing. Kurenai knocked on the door to ask if anything was alright, as well as inform her that Tsunade wanted her at the hospital in the next 30 minutes. Answering Kurenai and finishing cleaning herself in a hurry she got out of the bath to get dressed and hurry on her way to the hospital.  
  
Naruto at the same time was having a similar problem that lacks such a simple answer, not that he was aware of such a thing. He couldn't get his mind off of the white eyed girl that he had grabbed in the hospital before he had fully awaken, while he hadn't been in control, he remembered every detail like usual with unreal clarity. The taste and warmth of her skin, the scent of her in heat, and the desire to do things he wasn't even aware of, nor could he even describe. He was at a lost for words and quite a bit hot and bothered.  
  
"**You should have taken her there whelp, she was young, but she seemed to have much more power then those of you age, would have given you fine kits**", Kyubi said with a smirk  
  
"Excuse me, I don't think this is any of you business fox", Naruto said as he continued to blush  
  
"**Deny it all you want, I can tell, this body wanted it more than you realize, and she didn't seem to be fighting you, maybe she wanted you to**", Kyubi said laughing  
  
"So that's why she passed out when she discovered my purpose", he said with sarcasm  
  
"**A submissive partner is a good quality in any mate, make things go much smoother**", Kyubi said as he continued to tease the boy, "**Besides, usually means they are tigers in the bedroom**"  
  
Catching on to the fox's meaning, he turned even redder and walked away from the cage, to parts unknown while out in the real world, Tsunade, Ino and Hinata as well as some ANBU had gathered in Naruto's room ready to start the procedure.  
  
"So all you want me to do is go in there, find out what's wrong and bring him out if I can", Ino asked, then turned to the ANBU, "What's with the guard?"  
  
"They are here to make sure Naruto doesn't hurt himself or do anything...", Tsunade paused and turned to Hinata, "foolish", at which point Hinata blushed furiously  
  
"Ok, here I go", Ino said as she got in a chair and began to perform the jitsu  
  
She appeared in a dark hallway, filled with many doors, of which were all locked, 'That's weird she thought, usually a person only locks away memories if they want to forget them, these are all locked', she thought and continued on her way. As she when the scenery became more and more complex, and from here training it meant she was getting closer to his more current memories, but what confused her is a one point she came to an off shoot that seemed to be caved in, this was not something she had ever seen before in another person's memory or mind, she had no idea what it meant. Eventually she reached the end of the hallway that was his memory and found herself in a giant dark chamber; she could see the wall of the door way she had just exited as well as another door right next to it that was also caved in. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder; she turned around to find her father standing behind her.  
  
"Daddy?, what are you doing here, you weren't supposed to be home for another month", Ino asked  
  
"No time for this, we have to get out of here, Hokage wasn't aware of something with our jitsu being two way", Inoka said grabbing his daughter and turned to see the door he had just exited from closed off.  
  
"What happened to the door?"  
  
"**Ah yet another chance at a meal this life time, you foolish humans just seem to love coming in here, oh well, I guess I'll eat the older one first, save the sweet succulent meat of the girl last**" they both heard as the quickly turned to see 2 blood red eyes floating a hundred feet in the air, as bars suddenly came out of the shadows to reveal a monster Ino could not imagine in her worst nightmares and Inoka prayed that he would never have to see again.  
  
"Kyubi....", was all Inoka could say before two tendrils of red chakra shot out of the bar and grabbed him and his daughter, "Close your eyes and pray that it's quick daughter", he said, a voice think with fear as he and his child were dragged to the bars of the cage

Ok, and that's it for today, I felt inspired this bit, yes I know, the smut, what little there was may have weirded you out, but don't worry, that should be all for awhile, and for those of you who loved it, just wait, way more smut to come, lots and lots. 


	6. Chapter 5

Hello again, first off THANK YOU!!! Reviewers, I write this story just as much for you as I do myself, so keep the suggestions and critiques coming  
  
Second, to answer reviewer issues/questions/suggestion:  
I'm answering some of the questions from last chapter, this chapter, such as the caved in sections  
I'm still working it out with possible beta readers, please bare with me  
I don't think Kyubi is exposed too much, in my opinion, but this chapter is the last he will have any real major conversations with others, save maybe Naruto occasionally  
Sorry, I just don't like Sakura any more, "Naruto, I hate you, Naruto, your not as good as Sasuke, Naruto, go bring Sasuke back so I can go back to fawning over him and treating you badly", these things just anger me, I can't let them slide, I certainly don't want her dead and I think her character has potential, but she needs to get off her ass and work for it, as well as realize she can't treat everyone like crap because of a childish obsession.....man this is a long answer  
I'm really trying to lengthen these chapters, but it is hard, I usually don't have to write anything more than a few pages, but I'll try  
Ok, this is probably going to lose me some readers, but I can't help what I am, to answer your question, I am Male and I am Bisexual, meaning I swing both ways, that's why gay couples don't bother me in the least, so for my half-homosexuality, I'm sorry it bothers some of you, but not for being  
  
Ok, last thing before the start of the chapter, I am so sorry it took so long to update, I got dragged to the middle of nowhere, but I brought my laptop with me and was told there was an internet signal, nope, wrong, nyet. So I write my next chapter, well actually one and most of the next one, which I will try to get out tomorrow or the next day, just a few last finishing touches on it.  
  
disclaimer: I don't own nothin

-----------Master of the House-----------

Chapter 5  
  
Inch by inch they were dragged closer to the maw of the hungry beast. A scream for help was echoing through the room as it mingled with the fiendish laughing of Kyubi. Fight as they may, there was no escape, they were bonds, pure chakra, chakra so terrible and overwhelming no mere mortal even attempt to break it. As the Yamanaka's prepared for their fates as the maw of the horrible creature began to close down on them a horrible scream rang through the room, yet it was not they're own. As they opened their eye to see their bonds gone and the creature on the other side of the cage howling in pain as a blue energy pulsing through the cage seems to crack out at it and force it into submission. Suddenly they felt something grab the back of their collars and drag them backwards away from the cage and to their freedom and safety. Turning they saw a boy who they both recognized as the one they left in the hospital bed in the waking world. Before they could open their mouths he turned away and walked to a door that appeared in what was once the nothingness of this vast expanse of a room, opening the door and turning only partly to say "follow me" in voice that send chills down both spines. When they went through the door they found a large round room with a black curtain following the wall, a many large round mirrors that seem to hang in mid air, supported by nothing, and finally a series of circular platforms that acted like stairs up to what only be described as a throne of sorts, but like the rest of the room, it seemed old and somehow tired. Sitting, or more so laying so his feet hung over the side as he rested his head against the other arm rest was Naruto, and yet he seemed older, and very tired. With tired red eyes, obviously from crying, Naruto down at them and in a cold, void of emotion voice asked, "Why are you here"  
  
"I was asked to come in and bring you out and WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT MONSTER OUT THERE", Ino asks/screamed at Naruto.  
  
"Kyubi", Inoshi said in one word, "but what confuses me is this, if he is out there, then what are you, you obviously have the same human form as that monster"  
  
"KYUBI!!!", Ino screamed in shock, "the same one that almost destroyed the village 13 years ago, the same one that killed the 4th in a battle to the death, wait, didn't he get killed in that battle as well?"  
  
"No, he was forced into a human form, given a baby's form, who grew up into that, a monster that should have been slaughtered at creation", Inoshi said with venom  
  
"If all you have done is come to insult me, at least tell the story correctly", Naruto said plainly, "I know you were told the correct version, I saw you there at the debriefing", he said pointing to one of the mirrors showing an image from up on high of a group of shinobi, obviously injured and battle exhausted, and in one of the rows was Inoshi, standing next to two men Ino and Inoshi both recognized as Shikato and Chomaru. In the background, the Third could be heard talking.  
  
"With the death of the Fourth, we are left without a leader, by the Fourth's will, I shall take up the position of Hokage again.", the Third said, "Moreover, I will now read the Fourth's last instructions, first, I the Fourth Hokage, here by apologize for abandoning my post for the afterlife, but I leave Sarutobi-sama the position, and therefore you all in good hands, second, the infant in front of you, assuming he survived the process, is the mortal vessel for the demon Kyubi. As I have not been able to find a process to kill the demon, I have been forced to seal it into this innocent who will carry it to the day he dies, a hero to us all. He is to become a ward of the state under the direct supervision of Sarutobi- sama.", with this the Third stopped talking and the image changed as if lifted to a higher elevation, then put down to its original position. Afterwards, the group of injured ninja could be heard murmuring, saying things like, "Look at those whisker marks", "all they did was give the demon a new form", "I give him five years before he destroys us all", before the conversations got too far, the Third interrupted again, "while you may not agree with what has been done, it has come to pass, I am the protector of this child, no harm shall come to this innocent under penalty of death, "the Third paused as most of the audience looked slightly angry and unbelieving, "furthermore, we are not to speak of this ever again, history is to state that the Kyubi was killed in the battle with the Fourth, and that this child is just a war orphan, now moving along, the rest of the instructions the Fourth left us...", the Third was starting to say as the image and sound faded to black and both Ino and Inoshi turned back to Naruto  
  
"While you may believe what you want, you know better", Naruto said  
  
"How can you remember that, you were but hours old", Inoshi asked confused  
  
"Another curse all together, by some fluke I have perfect memory, I can perfectly recall every event in my life, from my first moments of consciousness to right now, in perfect detail", Naruto said as he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose  
  
"Sounds like the gift of a demon", Inoshi said  
  
"Perfect memory, a gift, A GIFT!!!, Would you call it a gift to see every glare, every cold look you ever received, every cold word, every mean thing people have done to you, for all time, to never be able to escape them, all because you had something put in you body with out your consent, to be labeled a monster at birth, to have every one who could remember the Kyubi and what really happen hate you for no reason, to have they're ignorant children hate you for no reason other than just because they're parents do, a gift you call it, it is a curse", Naruto stood and screamed at the two, "to answer your earlier question, I am Naruto, that out there is the Kyubi, he who is bound to me for all time. You all hate me so much, for something that I can't control, you all fear me, that I will come and destroy you all, for someone with so much power, you all certainly take your lives into your own hands by constantly treating me like garbage. All I want is to be left alone, left to wonder my mind and hope that my body dies and oblivion follows, but since you seem to believe you need to bother me and that I am a monster, that I am garbage, maybe you should no what it's like to be garbage.", and with that Naruto disappeared from sight only to reappear behind them. When they turned to face him he touched both they're foreheads, "See what it's like to live my life"  
  
Ino and Inoshi fell to the ground, their mind assaulted with images, memories of Naruto's life, every glare, every unkind word, all directed at them. Face after face of people they knew, some who they would judge to be the kindest people on the planet, their faces twisted and contorted into scowls with vile, hurtful words coming out. It was too much, far too much for anyone to bare all at once, and one final image for both of them were themselves, far uglier then they could ever possible imagine, saying the most horrible things. As the assault ended, both Yamanaka's fell to the ground.  
  
"And with this final gift, leave and bother me no more", Naruto said as both Yamanaka's faded away leaving Naruto to himself. Back in the real world both Ino and her father immediately regained consciousness, looking deathly ill, enough so that both immediately vomited. Tsunade and Shizune catching both of them, heard Inoshi say something right before he lost consciousness, "My gods, we're monsters".  
  
Several days later both Inoshi and Ino woke from the coma they had been in. Ino had been so upset that she immediately wanted to be released to go see Naruto. Granting her request, if she would allow a complete check up before hand, Tsunade dragged Inoshi into another room and began to question him, "So what the hell happened in there"  
  
"We were so wrong, so very wrong for what we did to that boy", Inoshi said, eyes downcast  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"He showed us everything, every horrible thing that has been done to him in his life", he said, "What the villagers do to him, what I have done to him is inexcusable"  
  
"But why did he show you all that"  
  
"Something I said", Inoshi said then suddenly remembering something, "I forgot, what's his physical condition right now"  
  
"So far it's still fairly healthy, but he's degrading, at this rate in week he will start to fall apart, even if we maintain his health best we can, I can't say he will survive, this is different from your usual coma, why do you ask?"  
  
"Something he said, he is waiting for his body to die, hoping for it, he wants to die and if we don't get him out of his mind soon he won't be able to come back"  
  
"Then what do you suggest, last time we tried to wake him, he immediately forced unconsciousness on himself, how, I'm not even sure"  
  
"We drag him out, if I can get a hold of him and then cancel my jitsu, it will force him back into consciousness, during that time we seal him into the waking world, it won't last long, especially with his mind, but long enough for us to at least try and help him. I just need a scroll from home, the help of my daughter since no one else is available and two hours to rest and refresh myself."  
  
"Alright, meet me in his room in two hours time"  
  
Two hours later, Inoshi and Ino were in position to perform their jitsu once more. Sitting on the side lines were Tsunade and Jiraiya, along with a handful of ANBU stationed outside in case there were any problems. Along with them sat Hinata and Shizune to observe and help with any medical conditions that may come up. As the two Yamanaka's prepared them selves a seal was being painted onto Naruto's forehead thru the wrapping that covered his body and hid his physical changes. Once all was prepared, Inoshi told Tsunade that once he awakes, immediately finish the seal and he will be trapped.  
  
Ino and her father, going thru the proper hand signs found their mind leaving their bodies and floating towards Naruto's. Once they were in they found them selves back and the beginning of the memory hallway. Running to get to the main chamber, they passed by the collapsed hallway, remembering her curiosity from the last visit she asked her father about it.  
  
"From the looks of it, it was most likely part of separate set of memories. There are a couple reasons for it, one, a split personality, or possibly amnesia or it very well could be implanted memory run off", Inoshi answered as they ran  
  
"What is that, the implanted memory one", Ino questioned  
  
"If you change or replace someone's memories, the original has to go somewhere, but from what you said about it going all the way to the present, it's probably not that"  
  
"Then what was the hallway, from what I could tell it look different than this one, but just as well crafted, if it was amnesia wouldn't it look sloppier"  
  
"True, so honestly, I can't say, but for now, lets just focus on this mission and get it done", and with that hurried to the end of the hall, coming to the massive void that held the Kyubi. Entering the chamber, they both ran for the door that they had gone through before, glad that the Kyubi seemed to be asleep. Entering they found Naruto sitting in his throne, eyes closed with tears leaking out as memories played on all of the mirrors.  
  
"Why have you returned, can't you leave me in peace", Naruto asked without even looking at them  
  
"Why are you crying", Ino asked with compassion as she walked up to his throne, her father trying to grab her, "what has turned you from annoying, hyperactive Naruto to this cold person who wants to be left alone"  
  
"He is dead, killed by that Uchiha bastard, trapping me here or worse, out there, in the real world", Naruto answered her  
  
"Who, who did Sasuke kill", she asked getting closer to him  
  
"He who was most important to me, my salvation, and my sunshine"  
  
"If he killed someone wouldn't he be under arrest, wouldn't there be a body"  
  
"No, no body, utterly destroyed", he said as the tears began to fall faster  
  
But he's not..." and then it dawned on her, maybe she didn't understand all of it, but from what her father said about the hall way, why Naruto seemed so different and cold, why he was grieving, "Have we met before?", she asked  
  
"No, he was here before I started going to the academy"  
  
"I'm Yamanaka Ino, nice to meet you", as she held out her hand with a big honest smile on her face.  
  
"I know who you are", he said as he opened his eyes and looked at her questioningly, "I have all his memories, why are you here"  
  
"To beg forgiveness for what I have done to you your whole life", Inoshi said as he dropped to his knee's and begged forgiveness  
  
"Why, why should I believe you"  
  
"Because, if it takes the rest of my life, I will continue to apologize for how I have wronged you and only hope that one day you can forgive me", he said, head pressed to the ground  
  
Turning back to Ino, "Even if you apologize, it still leaves me with the hate of the rest of the village, and the love of no one", he then closed his eyes again, "Leave, or I will force you out"  
  
Before he could truly settle back down Ino had come right up next to him, "Stay away from me", he said in a slightly panicked voice as she reached out to touch him, backing into the throne, "Don't....touch...me, STAY AWAY!!" he began to scream, terrified of her very touch, curled into a fetal position, "Please go and leave me be", he said as she began to wrap her arms around him. "NO!!!" he screamed as she hugged him, causing her to tighten her grip as he shook in fear.  
  
"It's time you came back, there are people out there who want to meet you, to make sure that you aren't alone, that you are loved", she said, trying to reassure him  
  
"No touch, only pain, pain, go, please go", he said as he shook and cried  
  
"I promise, I won't let anyone hurt you again", she said and with that she left, pulling him with her. In the real world his eyes opened, and Tsunade finished the seal, trapping him in the waking world. He immediately tried to return to his mind and found that he couldn't, trying again and again as he became more terrified, more fragile. Finally giving up as the rest of the group just backed up to let him tire himself out, he hugged his knee's to his chest and his face to his legs, he began to shake back and forth, mumbling the same thing over and over again, "No, trapped, only pain, only hate, everyone hate, can't escape". After a few seconds of this, the shock finally wore off Hinata and she clearly heard what he said, against her judgment and her sense of embarrassment, she did what all her natural instincts and heart told her to, she walked up to Naruto and wrapped her armed around him, pulling him into an embrace, a strong one, with all the love and compassion she could muster. Even when her cheeks were redder than she could ever imagine, she still held on for dear life. After a moment of this Ino joined her, trying to soothe and comfort the boy, eventually, even Shizune and Tsunade joined in, it took awhile, but there combined efforts were enough to finally calm the terrified boy.  
  
The next day Hinata came to check on Naruto, along with Ino, to discover his room empty and his chart saying he was released. Racing to the Hokage's office, the too girls entered to find her saying goodbye to a man jumping out her window.  
  
"Hokage-sama, what happened to Naruto, the hospital says he was released", Hinata asked, a little louder and more emotionally then she normally would be  
  
"Yeah, where did he go, his mind is far too fragile for him to be back out there amongst the villagers", Ino added  
  
"Don't worry, Naruto needed counseling to deal with his problem, and staying in the village wasn't going to help him get better any faster, so he left with Shizune, who will be counseling him and Jiraiya, who will be protecting him, he seems to trust them enough to tolerate their presence", Tsunade said as she sat down at her desk and sipped her tea.  
  
"But when is he coming back", both girls asked at the same time  
  
"He needs time to recover from the mental abuse, after discussing it with you father, Yamanaka-san, he is to spend one year outside this village with his identity unknown, so he can reintegrate into a social setting. During this time he will have to relearn many of his social skills as well as learn to deal with other people, including those who dislike him. It is our job to ensure that when he returns that it is to open, friendly arms, and hope that he can stand the abuse."  
  
With that, both girls left the Hokage's office and found themselves quite worried for Naruto, Ino, as someone who promised she would protect him from those who hated him, and Hinata, as someone who respected him, admired him and above all else, loved him. Hinata vowed that while she may never have had the courage to tell him before, after this event, she was going to darn well make sure he knew he was loved, even if she had to beat it into that dull head of his. Slightly shocked by her violent and forward idea, she blushed and followed Ino out the door to return to her work, her life and to wait for Naruto's return.

* * *

Ok, this is the end of the first section of my story, there is plenty more. Before everyone starts to speculate who I will be pairing Naruto with, I haven't decided, I am leaning towards a Naru/Hina pairing with a Naru/Ino sort of brother sister relationship, but I can't say that is how I am going to do it, it's for much later in my story when they are older and can do far more with themselves.....Insert Hentai smile here with slight nosebleed


	7. Interlude

Ok, this chapter will be a sort of interlude, it will be a series of reports Tsunade receives from Shizune on Naruto, both mental health and observations of his recovery. This is just a good way to get thru the year with him away in a quick manner that saves me from writing everything in detail, it also gives you an idea of what happened without telling you everything so I do have some things to work with when I continue the story, and besides these are all from Shizune's point of view. Man am I lazy  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, especially Naruto, I wish I did, but I don't  
  
Ok, now to answer questions/issues and what not from my beloved reviewers:  
  
I'm still not sure of the pairings, but I am leaning towards to Naru/Hina, which it will probably be, so if you want to jump ship now because that pairing nauseates you, you may do so......now.  
  
I'm not sure how I am going to deal with Sasuke and Sakura in the future chapters, but it probably won't be pretty, for Sasuke anyways, man I hate him.  
  
I can't say why I like writing/reading imaginary characters getting it on, it must be my inner pervert.  
  
--------Master of the House-------

Interlude – Monthly Reports to Tsunade  
  
Dear Tsunade-sama,  
At the end of our first month abroad, I still have no Idea where we are headed. Jiraiya-sama refuses to tell me where exactly we are heading, all he has told me is that we are going to meet an old friend of his who will be teaching Naruto taijitsu. While I have no problem with this activity, I do dislike his secretive nature about the location, but I believe he has our best interest at heart and wouldn't put into too much danger, I hope. I have bought more clothing for Naruto, as per you request, traveling clothes of which our inconspicuous yet covers him completely which according to Naruto is a very good thing. Naruto so far has yet to really open up to me or Jiraiya-sama, he still refuses to let us touch him, but at least he has begun to lessen the distance he keeps away from us over this month. From the few times I have talked to him, he seems to be incredibly bright, yet so unsure of himself, but what confuses me is that this is so different from the Naruto that I first met months ago. Jiraiya-sama has also begun to train him, ninjitsu only, but supposedly very difficult techniques for someone of Naruto's level, but everyday as we travel he seems to try and try again until he has made some progress. I have treated him for chakra burns and other chakra related injuries several times, of which I had to wait until he fell asleep to do so because of the aforementioned fear of letting anyone near him. Hopefully we will reach our destination soon and Naruto will have made some more progress mentally.  
  
Sincerely,

Shizune, your faithful servant

* * *

Dear Tsunade-sama,  
Three weeks ago we reached our destination, I wish I could tell you where but even I'm not sure anymore. Jiraiya-sama's friend is an older leaf Hunter-nin member, apparently a missing-nin of sorts and is not actively hunted. At first I was quite worried for all of us, but she does seem trust worthy, and in my own opinion quite strong. She has been training Naruto in stealth and taijitsu for the last three weeks. At first he was quite hesitant to let her near him, but he has made remarkable progress. While he still won't let anyone near him when he is not training, during the training period he allows her to touch him for the purpose of correcting his stance. What also shocks me is what he remembers, she only has to correct him a few times before he has figured out what he needs to do or how he is to stand. Another plus is that when he was injured a week ago, he actually let me come and treat him, not that he wouldn't have healed on his own. For Naruto this is a huge step, I am going to hopefully get him to open up to me in the next week or so and hopefully find out what exactly is wrong. One last thing before I send this, Jiraiya-sama asked me to tell you that so far there have been no signs of a certain organization, whatever that means.  
  
Sincerely,

Shizune, your faithful servant

* * *

Dear Tsunade-sama,  
Naruto has been sick for the last week and a half, and I am quite confused as to what exactly it is. All it looks like is a high fever, but it shows no sign of remission. He is constantly at a very high body temperature that any normal person would die at, plus he seems to be in constant pain and the last is the worse of it, he has gone delirious. One good bit is in his weak state of mind he doesn't mind at all if any of us get to close to him, but I am worried, if this doesn't end soon, Jiraiya- sama may bring him back to Konoha as quickly as he can. As for what has happened this past month, our group has left the home of the hunter-nin I mentioned, Jiraiya-sama refuses to let me call her by name in these reports. She will follow us for another two months and then return to her home, where we will two months after that as too check up on Naruto's progress. Jitsu wise, I have no idea where he is, all I know is that Jiraiya-sama has told me he has mastered a handful of very useful jitsu. On his mental condition, he has improved yet again, he now joins us for meals and even occasionally talks with us, it isn't much, but it is a definite improvement. I would have liked to get farther, but this illness has claimed his time for now. I hope you are well and that the training of your new student continues to go well, she couldn't be any worse than me at that age.  
  
Sincerely,

Shizune, you faithful servant

* * *

Dear Tsunade-sama,  
A most remarkable month this has been, full of many surprises. First off, Naruto's fever passed almost a few days after I had sent my last report, I'm not quite what happened to him during this time, but he seemed to absorb some of the Kyubi, or something like that, according to Jiraiya- sama. He is taller, although, he could just be in a growth spurt, he is almost eye-level with me, although that's not saying much as how short I am, but for him it was quite a change. He seems to be radiating a lot more chakra which has both Jiraiya-sama and Naruto's taijitsu sensei worried, so they were focusing on him concealing it, which he did in a matte of days. This amazed me to no end because I remember it took me a month to learn how to do so, oh well. Other then that all of his training is going smoothly, as far as I can guess, they tell me anything. On to the far more important matter of his mental health, I finally got him to talk to me about what had driven him to such a point that he would lock himself off in his mind. Apparently, Yamanaka-san was correct partially, Naruto had created a sort of split/fake personality to run his body while he hid in his fantasies. This was all a result of how the villagers had treated him growing up; he couldn't take it anymore, so he created the smiling idiot to take his place. What eventually happened was that the fake personality couldn't deal with the constant strain of life as Naruto, the breaking point being Uchiha-san's attempted betrayal. Naruto was very attached to his other self, when he lost him, it nearly destroyed him. Naruto still grieves for his fallen friend, but to make matters worse, Naruto claims to have perfect memory, that he can remember every event in his life with perfect detail. If this is true, it would explain why he trapped himself in fantasy, he would never be able to escape his own horrible memories. Now that I have gotten him to talk about it, he seems to be willing to get even closer to us, but I worry that he may become to dependant on us.  
  
Sincerely,

Shizune, your faithful servant

* * *

Dear Tsunade-sama,  
Not much has happened this month, Naruto continues to train and make good progress in both his taijitsu and ninjitsu. The hunter-nin who has been traveling with us will be leaving in a few days, but she has left Naruto and Jiraiya-sama with scrolls on what Naruto is to practice and learn. She also left me with a scroll and she wants me to teach Naruto all about anatomy, vital points and such. I am guessing this is related to his taijitsu training as I have seen Naruto training with throwing needles. We have entered a major city, as per Jiraiya-sama's orders I can't tell you which one, but while her, I have gone and bought Naruto some more clothing, he has started to outgrow his old clothing, and he is almost as tall as I am now. This fact alone made him smile, something we hadn't seen the entire trip, so hopefully we will see more of them soon. One last thing bothers me, he is still incredibly self-conscious about his appearance, especially his face. While we were in town he had a mask crafted for him, it's quite elaborate for all the things it does, but he never takes it off unless it is just our little group. I am worried that this is another type of emotional stagnation, but he does need to cover his face in town, so I have left him alone on this issue, hopefully it won't cause too many problems.  
  
Sincerely,

Shizune, your faithful servant

* * *

Dear Tsunade-sama,  
I am concerned, Naruto was sick again with the same symptoms, but this time it only lasted about two weeks. This concerns me because when Naruto got better he had gone thru more physical changes, such as he is burning all of his baby fat, while this seems normal at his age, it is moving at an accelerated rate. Another change is that he was also expelling more chakra than usual while he trained, enough so that Jiraiya- sama stopped him and started back on techniques for hiding his chakra. Jiraiya-sama seems very nervous about something, but we won't tell me, nor will Naruto, who also seems to know something. Other than that, there really isn't anything else to report, although I have included in this report my note on Naruto's physical condition, including the new changes.  
  
Sincerely,

Shizune, your faithful servant

* * *

Dear Tsunade,  
I am so very sorry for the delay in this report. I realize that it is over a month late, but with good reason, while we were returning to Naruto's taijitsu sensei, we were attack by two men I latter learned were Akatsuki, which Jiraiya-sama has explained to me, as well as there purpose. They had come for Naruto, but Jiraiya-sama as well as I would not allow such a thing. After a few dazzling jitsus and a very large summon used as a distraction we managed to escape the two. We spent almost two weeks evading them, but we had finally lost them, which also about the time Naruto came down with another fever, this time it was far more intense, he was so delirious that Jiraiya-sama had to use a seal on him to keep him from talking. A week after we had lost the two following us and Naruto had gotten sick, they had found us again. At first Jiraiya-sama managed to handle both of them, but eventually one held him up, allowing the other to make a break for Naruto's unconscious form. I positioned myself between the two, but I wasn't strong enough to stop him, he knocked me away and grabbed Naruto. In doing so, it brought Naruto out of his stupor just enough to attack him, catching him off guard and injuring him. In retaliation he stabbed Naruto in the eye, his good one, the pain causing him to lose consciousness. I attacked and yet again I was knocked away, but not before injuring the man, gaining his attention. As he attacked me, I did my best to keep up, but he was far better than I, it was when he stabbed me in the abdomen that I heard it, an extremely loud roar. Everyone present looked to see Naruto getting up, glowing red as his eye began to re-row fast enough for us to see it. Before the man I was fighting was even aware, Naruto appeared next to him and clawed out his throat. After a few more seconds of ripping the man apart, he set his sites on the other man. He jumped between him and Jiraiya-sama, and on all fours began to growl, forcing the other to back off. Naruto then circled around myself and Jiraiya-sama for a few minutes, watching the man who was watching us from the tree's, then he did something foolish, he through a kunai with an explosive note at Naruto. After the explosion cleared, Naruto was gone and Jiraiya-sama went after him. Following him we eventually heard a blood curdling scream and moments later came to a clearing to watch as Naruto had ripped the man limb from limb, it was one of the most gruesome things I have ever seen. Jiraiya-sama, fearing for my safety got between Naruto and I who looked at us with glowing red eyes as he leaked chakra everywhere. Surprisingly though, he never attacked, he sniffed the air a few times, walked up to us and collapsed, it was over a week latter that he awoke. What was so interesting was that he recognized us, once he identified us, I am guessing by scent, he felt safe enough with us to allow himself to rest. We reached the old hunter-nin's house a week after the attack where Naruto somewhat broke off contact with us, he didn't talk as much anymore and he was distancing himself. The other big change in his attitude was the fact that he never took off his mask anymore, the loss his remaining blue eye is causing him a great bit of confusion and self hatred. He has been training again for about a week, so I don't know if this is permanent or not, but I will try and get him to open up again and hopefully not worry so much about his face.  
  
Sincerely,

Shizune, your faithful servant

* * *

Dear Tsunade-sama,  
We have spent the last month at the hunter-nin's residence, making sure Naruto had learned all he could before he was sent off to learn on his own. She assured Jiraiya-sama and Naruto that the scrolls she had given him would be enough for him to master the rest of techniques himself, but to return in a year to ensure that he was doing them correctly. As one other final parting gift, she gave Naruto a set of arm guards that seem extremely heavy to me, as well as bulky, but she assure Naruto that he would need that for a later part of his training. During this time Naruto has opened up little, he still doesn't speak very much and he still refuses to take off his mask for any reason. I think that if the mask's lower section didn't come off around the mouth he would rather starve to death than take that stupid mask off, oh well. After examining him since his last fever, I could discover no visible change, until Jiraiya-sama was sparring with him and kicked him in the chest. At first I was worried for Naruto until he got up fine and Jiraiya-sama was hoping around on one foot cursing up a storm. Apparently Naruto's bones have become incredibly dense, Jiraiya-sama tells me that it is most likely a side affect of Naruto continuing to absorb more and more bits of the Kyubi. According to Jiraiya- sama, he will probably keep getting sick again and again for many years, at which time when he finishes he will have most likely absorbed all of the Kyubi. From what he tells me, Naruto will be about 22 when he has completely absorbed Kyubi, meaning he will probably be a force to reckon with.  
  
Sincerely,

Shizune, your faithful servant

* * *

Dear Tsunade-sama,  
The good news is that Naruto has started talking again; in fact, you could say it's more like the old days, he won't shut up. It's not that he is annoying, but his little period of quiet reflection seemed to build up a lot of emotions, ideas and other things that he needed to express, so he started expressing himself, a lot. Luckily though, he seems to have run out of steam these past few days, but he is at least talking to us a healthy amount. Jiraiya-sama continues to tutor him in jitsu, and whatever it is, it's quite powerful, as both have returned multiple times, burnt, exhausted and starving. We celebrated Naruto's 14th birthday, I was surprised when he took off his mask, not showing us his face, but wiping away some tears, before putting it back on. I figure almost no one has ever celebrated that poor boy's birthday. Not much else has happened in our month of travel and in a few days, we will leave out current encampment and begin the journey back to Konoha.  
  
Sincerely,

Shizune, your faithful servant

* * *

Dear Tsunade-sama,  
We have been traveling a month in the direction of Konoha and by the time you get this letter we shall be even closer, we should arrive in one month's time. Naruto has been sick again, although I can't tell what has been granted to him this time, the time in which he was sick has drastically shorter, only three days, hopefully in time he will be able to minimize the how long he is sick. Naruto continues to improve in all his skills and even started making jokes, not very funny jokes, but at least he is trying. I am worried about him, he is quite nervous about returning home, even though he would never admit it. He already knows he won't be accepted by the general populace when he returns but it is extremely important that he is around people that will at least treat him like a human being. Because of this, Jiraiya-sama and I are requesting that he be put on another team. Being with Uchiha-san and Haruno-san would be extremely bad for his mental health based on what he and Jiraiya-sama have told me of them. He also is requesting that he be given a different name and identity, he feels that the villagers are much more likely to leave him alone if they don't know it is him, and I am inclined to agree. He will need a new residence as well, any old apartment will do according to him, but I am requesting that he be placed in a slightly better location, a poor apartment may affect his mental state, and I want to avoid a relapse if I can. With that, I bid you farewell Tsunade-sama, I will see you in a month to give you my last report as well as the notes that I have collected over this year, and I look forward to seeing you.  
  
Sincerely,

Shizune, your faithful servant

* * *

Ok, that's the end of the reports, yes I am aware some of them don't tell you much, ok, most of them don't tell you much. Also I realize that many of you are going, "Oh god, your giving him another name", but just bear with me, it will only be for a few chapters, just long enough for certain events to unfold.


	8. Chapter 6

Ok, first off, sorry about the delay, a combination of waiting for my beta reader, he suddenly left on vacation without telling me and the over all difficulty of finding a new name for Naruto that fit in the Naruto universe.  
  
Secondly, Reviewer Response: -Yup, Ino has pretty much been put out of the running for Naruto, although she gets him like a Brother, which works for me, also the only OC's in this fic will only be characters the Kishimoto leaves out, like Ino's mother and any siblings she may have, don't worry, no mary sues/stews here  
  
-Sorry about taking out his eye, but I kind of needed a reason for him to hide his face, it also completes his transformation into a totally separate entity from the Naruto we all know and love, not that I hope you wont grow to love this Naruto, but he is very different, oh and I answered the mask question in this chapter  
  
-Well, I think Sasuke is a cold hearted bastard that should be tortured for all time in the fiery pits of hell, but that's just me, if you haven't read up to the recent chapters in the manga that's probably why you may think he isn't so bad, but again, it is still all just my opinion, I urge you to form your own  
  
-Sorry, no pet fox, I may change my mind on this later, and no blindfold as it has been done in a sort of Warcraft 3/Naruto fic called Downfall of the Light, I rather liked it  
  
I think that's everything, enjoy this chapter

---------Master of the House--------

Chapter 6  
  
He didn't really want to go back, and not that most could blame him, but it had been agreed upon that it was the safest place for him, Konoha, his own personal hell. Sure there were some reasons to return, he wanted to see Tsunade again to thank her, he wanted to thank Ino and her father for the kindness they had shown him and most of all, he wanted to see her. She was haunting his dreams every night since that day in the hospital. Dreams that would make people believe Naruto was as big a pervert as Jiraiya, but he couldn't help it, as Shizune put it, it was part of growing up. He wasn't even quite sure what he would say to her, he would thank her for taking care of him a year ago, but other than that he was stumped. At least he had plenty of time to think, as sneaking into Konoha undetected required quite a bit of time consuming stealth. He had already made it over the wall and was not trying to get to a market place or any other crowded locale to blend in. While he was excellent at hiding his chakra, he knew that the ANBU patrolling the village would be able to detect it if he took alternative routes, such as the roof tops and back alleyways, no the best way was to blend into a crowd. Once he made his way to a crowded street, he changed his appearance to that of a typical merchant's son, no fancy clothing, no great beauty or otherwise, just another face in the crowd. He continued to walk through Konoha for another twenty minutes, taking a very roundabout way to the Hokage's tower where he was to meet with Tsunade, and discuss what he has been doing as well a where he is going from here. Although he was already sure she was going to put him back into active duty based on just what Shizune had told her, he was worried it was going to be with team 7, or possibly someone even worse. After jumping to a roof to give himself a speedy shortcut to the tower, Naruto paused for a moment and looked down at all the academy students being let out of class. He watched them play and jest, he watched them do the things that only children do, and then he caught sight of a group of kids picking on a smaller boy, threatening him. It took all that Naruto had not to jump down there and wring there little necks, but instead he thought of a better plan of action. Jumping down to the street and using speed that none but the watchful eye of highly trained ninja could track, he speed by them and stabbed all three in the neck with a needle, pulled it out and went on his way. He turned back to see all three boys paralyzed from the neck down, and then went on his way to the tower, the paralysis would where off in an hour or two.  
  
"So where is he?", Tsunade asked from behind her desk  
  
"He wanted more realistic stealth training", Jiraiya said as he filled his pipe by the window, "He should be here any minute now"  
  
"What do you mean more realistic"  
  
"His stealth isn't good enough to get past me, so he isn't sure of how good it is, even though I tell him every time that he is quite stealthy"  
  
"So what is he doing then", Tsunade asked, getting irritated, and then looked upon her old student to see her looking nervous, "Shizune...?"  
  
"He's sneaking into the village Tsunade-sama", Shizune said in a rush then flinched for the on coming yelling  
  
"HE'S WHAT!!", Tsunade yelled  
  
"I didn't want to let him do it, but Jiraiya-sama said it would be good practice"  
  
"Jiraiya, you idiot!! What if he is caught, they may not bother bringing him here, they may just kill him", Tsunade screamed as she was now standing  
  
"Don't worry about it, I've been tracking him", Jiraiya said, still looking out the window, "Besides he's good enough to get into the village, blend in and hide his chakra along with avoiding ANBU, he's been trained well in this area"  
  
"But if you can track him, doesn't that mean others can too"  
  
"Only if you know what to look for", Jiraiya said, then seeing the confusion on Tsunade's face continued, "His chakra has begun to merge with the demon's, which means it has a very unique signature. Now while your average ninja would recognize it as slightly odd, most would just brush it off to an advanced blood line since they tend to have weird chakra patterns anyways. Only a high level Hyuuga could easily track him."  
  
"You do know that many of our ANBU are Hyuuga don't you"  
  
"Uhhhh...", Jiraiya said as he dropped his pipe, "I better go check on him, he may be... never mind, he's here"  
  
"Where?, I don't see or sense anyone...", And then she felt it, it was slight, almost unnoticeable, right by Shizune, "Hmm good jitsu, not only can I not see you, it barely puts off any chakra"  
  
"Hokage-sama", Naruto said as he dropped the jitsu and appeared by a slightly surprised Shizune, "I have come to report in, also you may want to increase the number of guard on duty as I too easily found a gap in security"  
  
"Good to see you Naruto, good to see Shizune taught you some manners as well, alright down to business. You will no longer be Uzumaki Naruto, he is considered MIA, and you are Jiraiya's illegitimate grandson."  
  
"Oh dear god, I have to be related to him", Naruto said and Jiraiya was choking on smoke from his pipe from the statement  
  
"This is non negotiable, also, your new name is this", Tsunade said handing him a small piece of paper, "You are only respond to this and never reveal to anyone who you really are"  
  
"Namaru? (A/N the Kanji for this word spells the version on Namaru that means to disappear, to hide or to disappear)"  
  
"From all the training you received it seemed fitting. Alright, next item on my list, you will be joining Team 8 with Sarutobi Asuma as your sensei, he has been informed of your unique gifts as well as who you are"  
  
"They have had a vacancy for over a year and you are just now filling it."  
  
"When a Genin becomes a Chuunin, they usually continue to work for a year after their promotion with their old team to help improve the other Genins as well as wait for a replacement to graduate from the academy. So other questions aside, this is also non-negotiable"  
  
"I have no problem with this, please continue Hokage-sama", Naruto said in an emotionless voice but secretly very glad that he wasn't back with team 7  
  
"Alright, moving along, Yamanaka-san has volunteered to provide you with living quarters with his family, you are to move in this afternoon, they have already received your possessions from your apartment"  
  
"Really", Naruto asked with a bit of surprised even though he tried to hide, "I assume Yamanaka-san knows who I really am, but what about Ino-san"  
  
"She knows as well as she will be a major part of you readjusting to living in the village. Don't worry Namaru, only Myself, Jiraiya, Shizune, Inoshi and his immediate family, save for his youngest, know who you are, no one else.", Tsunade then trying to read his face for a reaction realized he still had his hood up, "Uh, Namaru, would you be kind enough to remove your hood, and let me get a good look at you"  
  
"Alright", Namaru said, taking off his cloak to reveal what was underneath. He wore fairly simple black clothing with a piece a black armor covering his abdomen. His pants resembled Jiraiya's except black with black wrapping covering his legs and feet with some sort of stealth shoe. His shirt was tight, black and went up his neck to his forearms were with was tucked under a weird set of arm guards on both arms followed by black fingerless gloves. On his face, which is what caught Tsunade's attention first was a black mask made of metal that pushed his longer wild blond hair back; in the forehead of the mask was the symbol of Konoha. What really surprised her was what the mask depicted, it was a animalistic demon of sorts, in a very gothic and industrial metal fashion, lots of sharp corners, very fierce looking and extremely intimidating, even she the Hokage felt a little uneasy with. The most unsettling aspect of the mask was the red glowing eyes, just ever so slightly; it kept her from seeing his eyes. Shivering ever so slightly, Tsunade got up as did Namaru (A/N who is what I am going to call Naruto for the next few chapters just for my own sanities sake) and she noticed something quite immediately, he was much taller, almost as tall as she was, well over 5 feet tall, probably making him slightly taller then your average 14 year old. Another thing she had noticed was how thin and muscular he was.  
  
"Please remove you mask, Namaru, I want to take a look at you face", Tsunade asked as she got closer to his face  
  
"I will do anything you ask Hokage-sama, but I won't take off my mask, not for you, not for anyone else, my face is far horrible for anyone to see", he said backing up slightly  
  
"Give it up Tsunade-hime, he won't take it off", Jiraiya said as Tsunade was about to protest, "He won't even take it off for myself or Shizune anymore, he's got this crazy idea in his head that he is a monstrous in appearance"  
  
"You know well enough that I no longer human in appearance, no need to frighten those around me Jiraiya-sensei", Naruto said in a combination of irritation and sadness, "It would only cause problems, plus it could very well identify who I really am, no It stay on at all times"  
  
"How do you plan on eating then", Tsunade asked as she sat back down  
  
"Simple enough Hokage-sama", and with that Namaru touched several places on his mask with chakra with several mechanical clicks heard after. When he finished, he grabbed the lower jaw of his mask and pulled part of it off, revealing his mouth and chin, but not the rest of his face of any of his unique markings. Tsunade looked at his teeth noticing an increase in canine length and sharpness, when Namaru noticed he immediately put the rest of his mask back in place. "I believe someone is here Hokage-sama", Naruto said as someone knocked on the door.  
  
"Come in", Tsunade yelled to the person on the other side of the door  
  
"Greetings Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama, Shizune-san and Namaru-san, It is the time you request for me to pick up Namaru-san", said Inoshi as he enter the room and bow to the respective parties  
  
"Good timing Inoshi-san, Namaru, go with him, he will take you to your new residence. Oh, and I expect a written report of what you have learned in the last year on my desk tomorrow." Tsunade said as motioned for the two to leave, "Dismissed"  
  
"Hai Hokage-sama", Namaru said as he left the room following Yamanaka Inoshi to his residence. A few moments later as the two walked down the street to the Yamanaka flower shop and Namaru's new home, he asked, "Why did you volunteer to take me in"  
  
"Two reasons", Inoshi said after thinking about it for a minute, "1, I owe you a great debt for what you do for this village and 2, for what I have done to you in the past, I more then owe you this as well. What I said in you mind, I meant it, If it takes me the rest of my days, I will try to obtain your forgiveness" and with that the two on there way in total silence. The eventually arrived at the Yamanaka flower shop, entering through the front door, Namaru received a few odd looks from the customers but had expected this; he wasn't exactly dressed like your average person. After being lead past a very confused group of people and an equally confused Mrs. Yamanaka, Namaru found himself in the backyard of his new home, although garden was a much better description. The whole yard was filled with various types of plants, everything from fruits and vegetables to trees and bushes. Towards the back was a board with a target on it, he guessed for target practice. After being told to stay put for a couple of minutes while Inoshi went to talk to his wife and make sure his room was ready, Namaru sat down in this plant based maze to meditate when he heard the sound of a kunai being thrown. When it hit the board at the far side of the yard, he peaked through the bushes to see a younger blond boy throwing kunai poorly at the target. Walking over as stealthy as possible he sat down behind him and studied his throwing technique.  
  
"You are gripping the handle too tightly and not close enough to the blade", Namaru said scaring the other boy, causing him to turn around and stare at him  
  
"What did you say", the other boy said, somewhat irritated and surprised  
  
"I said you are gripping the handle too tightly and not close enough to the blade"  
  
"Who the hell are you to tell me how to throw", the boy said only to have a kunai wiz by his head and hit the target perfectly, "WOW, teach me how to do that onii-san", he said changing his tone immediately  
  
"Are you sure you want me to show you, I mean who the hell am I to assume so much", Namaru said with just the tiniest hint of sarcasm  
  
"Well if I know who you are then I can learn from you, ne", the boy said curiously  
  
"Namaru, and you"  
  
"Inoka... so now will you please show me"  
  
"Sure, why not", Namaru responded and then proceeded to demonstrate, "Watch how I throw the kunai, where I hold it and how tightly I am holding it"  
  
"Un-huh, ok let me try"  
  
From the bushes, Inoshi and his wife watched as the two boys interacted. As Inoka finally started listening to what Namaru had to say, he was hitting the target more accurately each time. Backing away from the bushes, Inoshi motioned for his wife to follow him back into the house.  
  
"See Shina they are getting along just fine, I think this will be good for the both of them", Inoshi said to his wife  
  
"I don't know, should we trust him with our family, what if he goes crazy and kills us all in our sleep", Shina said nervously  
  
"I've already told you, him and the fox are separate entities, and from what I've seen that boys is what keeps it from us at all times, besides have you ever heard of him going crazy and attacking anyone, plus he is only going to get stronger day by day, meaning he will be getting better at hold back the demon. "  
  
"I know, but still I feel uneasy"  
  
"I understand that, but he has earned this, a home, something he has never known, I am not going to deny him one any longer. If we don't make him feel welcome, what's going to stop him from becoming a missing nin, from really being a problem for this village, I would much rather say I was part of the reason he stayed then watch as someone like our children have to go out a hunt him down."  
  
"Alright, alright, but if he hurts even one hair on either of my children's heads, I will kill him myself"  
  
"Fine, but at least be kind to him while he is here, he is a very lonely boy, he needs our support, he needs a place to come too where everyone isn't staring at him like kind of monster, so I am asking, please give him a chance", Inoshi said pleading with his wife  
  
"Alright, go grab him and take him to his room. Also tell him to wash up, we will be eating as soon as Ino gets home, which should be any minute", Shina said as she went to close down the shop  
  
Inoshi went and got Namaru and Inoka, much to Inoka's protest. Namaru found his room to be much larger then he expected, probably the same size as his old apartment, minus the kitchen. It had its own bathroom, a large closet and some furniture along with a bed all waiting for him. He was truly shocked, not that anyone could tell cause of the mask, but still it was more than he could have ever hoped. In the drawers were his clothing, both his old, which he would probably give away and oddly enough several copies of what he had on. He guessed that was Hokage-sama's doing, along with a chest full of his weapons along with some newer ones. After he finished looking around quickly, he pulled out a black piece of cloth and touched several places on his mask with chakra, causing those clicking noises, and the outer part of his mask came off. Once the much fiercer part of his mask was gone, all that was left was something similar to a smooth ANBU mask except all black and instead of eye slits were those same circular glass lenses that glowed ever so slightly, giving the impression of were his eyes were looking at (A/N think kind of like the mask the clockwork Nazi Ninja wears in the Hellboy movie, it's not where I got the inspiration from, but it is fairly close in design). He then removed the mouth component again since he would be eating, and wrapped all the parts of the mask he wasn't using in the black cloth and put them in a drawer, which he promptly locked. After washing up and making sure all of his important possessions were either on him or well hidden in his room he went downstairs to join the Yamanaka's for their evening meal. Arriving in the kitchen, all were shocked to see him without, what they would describe as that horrible mask, or his cloak, almost dressed like a normal ninja, save for the new mask, but at least it wasn't as threatening to them.  
  
"Is there anything I can do to help", Namaru asked, somewhat unsure of himself, he didn't like overly social events  
  
"Sure, grab the bowls and dishes, they are in the third cabinet on my left, Inoka, don't stand around gawking, grab the chopsticks", Shina said not looking at him or Inoka, but seeming to know what was going on around her none the less.  
  
After a few minutes the food was ready and Inoshi had arrived in the kitchen as all took a seat. The smells were overwhelming Namaru, having an extremely acute nose was both a blessing and a curse. It wasn't that the food smelled bad, but apparently Mrs. Yamanaka used way too many overpowering spices in her cooking in Namaru's opinion. It was then as they were awaiting the arrival of the last Yamanaka that Namaru finally had adjusted to the smells around him and he caught something on the wind, very slight but extremely familiar in his mind. 'Oh god, I'm not ready' he though as Ino suddenly came into the store downstairs dragging some one along with her.  
  
"Mom!!, Dad!!, I'm home, and I brought Hinata-chan with me", Ino yelled as she came up the stairs and Namaru started to sweat  
  
"Oh good, will she join us for dinner then", Shina asked her daughter before she entered the kitchen  
  
"Of course she will....Hey who's this?", Ino asked as she entered the room catching sight of Namaru for the first time with Hinata looking over her shoulder at Namaru  
  
"Na a Namaru", he stuttered at the sight of the girl who had haunted his mind for the last year, one of the few people who made him lose his cool, Hyuuga Hinata.

* * *

Ok, I am leaving off here, I hope to update soon, but the order of how I want to do the next few chapters has me stumped, so I can't make any promises, but hopefully in a few days. 


	9. Chapter 7

* * *

First thing, I am so very sorry this is so late, but as I said before I am having trouble writing out this section of the story. I know what comes next and have written it already, but these next few chapters are taking me forever to write simply because I'm not quite sure how to handle them. Once I get through them I will start uploading my finished chapters in groups so please bare with me.

In response to reviews:

-Right now I am not going to say much about his face, but that he is overreacting quite a bit and he isn't the elephant man

-Sorry, but I like Hinata, plus she makes a convenient plot device

-Don't worry, it will probably be awhile before anyone knows who Naruto is other than those who know now

-Sorry about the spacing, I write it in Word, so I don't notice these things, I will try and separate my paragraphs more frequently

Disclaimer: No Naruto for me, it all belongs to Kishimoto, who finally got the freaking manga story going again

---------Master of the House---------

Chapter 7

He wasn't expecting this, he had been taught to expect all situations, yet he had been caught surprised. The one person he couldn't stop thinking about for a year was standing in front of him and he had no idea how to deal with this situation. After his shock had passed, he remembered that she had no idea who he really was and therefore would treat him just like any other stranger, which in some odd way depressed him greatly.

"Who is this?" Ino asked staring at Namaru with Hinata looking over her shoulder

"Na a amaru", he said with a stutter

"He will be staying with us for awhile, we talked about this before", Inoshi said as he began to serve food

"Oh right, I forgot, my name is Ino and this is Hyuuga Hinata" Ino said as she bowed and introduced her friend who did the same, then both sat, Ino next to her father and Hinata next to her, across from Namaru, but to his equal pleasure and dread. As the family and their guests ate, they all chatted about their day's activities, when Ino had noticed how quiet Namaru had been.

"So Namaru, I heard you have been traveling, where did you go, what did you see", Ino asked

"Some of the major cities and many of the smaller villages in the 5 countries", he said quietly

"Really!!, what are they like" Ino asked with excitement

"Uh, they are all ok, slightly different, but all have many of the same things you would find here in leaf"

"Un-huh, what else", Ino asked trying to get more out of the boy

"In Lightning country the ninja train themselves to resist electrical attacks by constantly blasting each other with lightning based jitsu"

"Ouch, that sounds painful", Inoka interjected

"How do they avoid nerve damage", Hinata broke in

"I don't know, they weren't to big on sharing there techniques with me", he said looking down at his plate, leaving an uncomfortable silence

"So who did you travel with?" Shina asked, hating uncomfortable silences

"My Oji-sama, his student and Nee-san, then with my sensei for the rest of the time"

"So your grandfather and sister, are they leaf ninja?"

"They both are, although my sensei isn't, may I have second please"

, Namaru asked, handing his plate to Shina

"So who was or is your sensei?" Inoshi asked out of curiosity, since he knew the identities of Namaru's "Grandfather and Sister"

"She doesn't like me revealing her name; just that she is a retired shinobi"

"What did she teach you?"

"Mostly taijitsu, with some ninjitsu and a few genjitsu, although I still need a lot of practice with all of them"

"What is your sensei like", Ino piped in

"Very strict and disciplined, she is calm in almost every situation"

"really, how so"

"Everyday I awoke to her throwing weapons at me, followed by a forty mile run and then a series on calisthenics, all while wearing waited clothing. Twice she made me sleep on a lake to force me to practice chakra control", Naruto said darkly

"Wow!! Namaru-onii chan, you must be really strong then!!" Inoka said breaking the silence, "I bet your stronger than Ino-nee chan"

"Hey you little punk, better show some respect for me or I'll use you for target practice", Ino said as she pulled out some kunai

"You couldn't hit me anyways", Inoka said as jumped up, stuck out his tongue and ran out the door as dinner was pretty much over.

"GET BACK HERE!!!" Ino yelled as she chased after him.

After the chaos had ended and Shina had begun to clean off the table, both Namaru and Hinata offered to help clean up the kitchen. Hinata was helping to wash the dishes as Namaru dried them. As they worked, occasionally Inoka and Ino would run by, one throwing insults the other kunai. As the chore of cleaning up came to an end, Inoka came jumping through the kitchen windows, causing a potted plant to land in the sink full of water. The water splashed up and soaked both Shina and Hinata, leaving both cold and angry, although Shina showed her anger much more. Namaru looked at the two and at first thought it was funny, then he got a closer look at Hinata, the shirt she was wearing was hugging her body much more so, giving Namaru much more of a show then she realized. Namaru became transfixed, he couldn't take his eyes off her, and he felt his own blood begin to race. He watched as the cold water caused her nipples to poke out from the shirt, watch as the beads of water ran down her face, along the nape of her neck. He felt as his blood began to boil as he focused on her neck, especially the spot he had favored in his less than controlled state, he could have sworn it had almost a glow to it. Staring and his heart raced he began to notice another part of him was also affected by the increase in blood flow and his pants seemed a lot smaller than usual, it was then he smelled it, pheromones, and lots of them, coming off of her. He could detect an increase in her heart rate, he noticed a blush running up her face and neck, this combined with the pheromones was all he could take from ripping off both of their clothes and taking her right then and there, but still he resisted. It was at this time, when Hinata noticed that she was getting flustered, and truth be told a little excited in a way she would never admit to another human being, she became confused it was then she looked over to Namaru staring at her and she felt her excitement spike inexplicably and he stared back. Quickly her arousal turned to concern then Namaru grabbed his head in pain and fell to his knees, dropping the plates in his hands. Once he hit the floor he quickly jutted out his hands catching the plates, getting up, putting them on the counter top and quickly walking out the door. "Are you all right", Hinata asked as she watched him turn his head ever so slightly to acknowledge her presence and said, "Excuse me, I need to train" and with that he was out the door and up to his room. Hinata confused by what had just happened, heard Shina say, "what an odd boy" and Hinata had to agree.

"Namaru was now running through the forest, looking for an empty training field, one far away from the rest of the village. After a few minutes he eventually found one and set a mat down in the middle of the clearing. Starting a fire using a jitsu, Namaru sat down and began to meditate. Trying to clear his mind of distraction, he found the task extremely difficult, all the sights, the smells, even the taste of the air, were all firmly trapped in his memory for all time, and they were all arousing. Finding he couldn't successfully meditate until he had calmed himself down, he was left with two options, one involved him doing something less than wholesome, but would certainly "ease" his pain, the other put him in a les vulnerable position out in the wild, he was going to talk with the fox.

After a few moments of preparing himself and setting up traps in the area he sat back down and entered his own mind. He shot right down the hallway of memories, far quicker than any human could move and in a fraction of a second he was in the chamber that held the Kyubi. Looking up, Namaru saw the great beast in the lying down position, as he held most days since he began to get sick and absorb the demon. From the slip of paper that was the seal, more and more threads had appeared, making them visible now, which connected to a collar that had appeared one day around the beast neck, all part of the absorption process. As he absorbed the beast he would be granted some of demons powers, so far all of them had to do with his body, making it tougher, stronger, more perceptive and such. Sitting down in a chair that formed from the very ether of the room, Namaru sat down.

"As I gain your powers, I am gaining your memories as well, so far mostly instinct and non-specific memories about demons. While this is all fine and good I still lack information on some of the more basic things", Namaru said as he faced the demon

"**So, answer the call of bloodlust and kill them all**", the Kyubi said as he looked down at Namaru

"That's not what I am talking about, an hour or so ago I was in the same room with Hyuga-san and I nearly had my way with her"

"**So why didn't you, I told you before brat, she would have given you powerful offspring**"

"That's not the point, why is it that I am so 'bothered' by her, I've been in the presence of other women before, even those I found attractive, but they have never caused a reaction like this, even the ones in heat"

"**Was she**"

"Not that I could tell", Namaru said quite plainly as Kyubi began snickering from behind his cage, "What's so humorous fox"

"**One last thing, did her skin seem to glow anywhere**"

"Yes, what do you now about this then?"

"**Nothing I am going to tell you, I'd rather torture you with it a little longer**", Kyubi said laughing as he got up and walked away from the bars, "**I'd get more pleasure in torturing you while you try to figure it out on your own**" and with that the fox was out of sight.

"Damn fox", Namaru muttered as he went back to the waking world

Feeling better Namaru returned to the Yamanaka residence, not risking running into Hinata again, he entered through his bedroom window. Once there he prepared himself for sleep and went to bed, he had a long day of training ahead of him.

The next morning he awoke an hour before sunrise and snuck out of the house. In full weighted gear and with his equipment for the training he would be doing today, he made his way back to the field he had found the night before. Starting another fire, he began his morning meditation exercises. Sitting in front of the fire he entered a trance and began to channel chakra out of his body and into the fire in front of him. The fire at first grew and shrunk, shifting slightly, and then a tendril of pure fire grew out of the rest of the flame and started to take a form. At first abstract, then more complex shapes would take shape as other tendrils of fire would also grow out of the flame. He did this every day as a means of enhancing his chakra control, although it would take perfect control of anyone else to try and attempt and even then it would still be nearly impossible with out seals, Namaru had an affinity with fire, Jiraiya had explained to him as being a result of merging with the Kyubi. Jiraiya had further explained to Namaru that Kyubi was a demon who was made of living chakra, but since it really could take a physical form it used the aid of the element and fire was what Kyubi had chosen to be the material of his form, Shukaku did the same thin using wind and sand. This affinity with fire made Namaru extremely adept at using fire jitsus, he could learn most in a day or two while it would take others weeks if not longer. It also gave him the ability to more easily shape fire, whether it be natural or the result of a jitsu, which also gave him a knack for developing new jitsu using fire as well as altering older ones. For now though, he used this ability to help his chakra control, give him a creative outlet as well as help calm his spirit. The multiple tendrils climbing out of the original fire had taken the shape of a human head, a bust in sculptural term and it was then Namaru realized who it was, Hinata. 'Damn' he though, 'Why can't I get her out of my thoughts, she is becoming a distraction with my training' then opening his eyes and letting the fire quickly disperse and rejoin the rest of the fire he had originally started. He slowly began again when he smelled something in the wind, reaching out with his other senses and feeling for the chakra approaching. The amount of chakra heading towards him was large and moving incredibly fast, probably as fast as him if he took off his weights and enhanced his body with chakra, maybe. It was then he smelled something odd, it was a weird mix of sweat and metal, quite a bit of metal. Replacing himself with a clone, he hid himself in the shadows of a near by tree and hid his chakra best he could. After a few minutes he felt the presence stop for a moment then change direction and head straight for the clearing. Faster than Namaru could watch, a green blur came shooting into the clearing and appear next to his clone who was still in his lotus position. 'Oh him, that explains quite a bit' Namaru thought as he observed the newly arrived Azure Beast of Konoha.

"Hello there, may I ask what you are doing so near my secret training grounds", said Rock Lee

"I didn't realize there was a training ground out here, I simply was looking for my own", Namaru's clone said, eyes still closed in concentration.

"Your not here to steal my top secret training secrets then?"

"No, especially since I don't use tekken style taijitsu", Namaru's clone said, not realizing until he had already said it, that since he is supposed to be new around here, he wouldn't know that just yet

"Wow, you must be strong to know my taijitsu style just from just looking at me, care to try you power of youth against my in a sparring match", Rock Lee said, eyes aflame with passion

"Alright, I needed to practice my taijitsu anyways"

"Ok, first, some rules, no traveling any further than a mile from this spot, second no jitsus or special techniques, third weapons aren't allowed as I didn't bring my kunai with me"

"Agreed", and with that Lee walked away to get into position as Namaru canceled his clone and took its place, taking a defensive stance.

"Ready!!"

"Alright, by the way, my name is Namaru"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Rock Lee, GO!!", and both boys went charging at each other with blinding speed

It was now noon and lunch was ready, the whole family was here but Namaru was no where to be seen, Shina was getting angry. Before she could begin expressing her anger a knock at the door could be heard. Shina opened the door to see a fairly beaten and dirty looking set of boys, one she didn't know holding up another with what she guessed was a broken ankle, who she recognized as Namaru.

"Oh lordy, all right come on in", Shina said to the two

"Actually I am just here to drop him off, I have to go", Rock Lee see anxiously

"Thank you for bringing me back", Namaru said

"Not a problem, it was nice to meet you ma'am", Rock Lee said as he ran off

"Who was that?" Shina ask

"Rock Lee, my taijitsu training partner"

"What happened to your ankle?"

"I broke it, but I couldn't fix it in front of him, too many questions", Namaru said as he bent down and bent his ankle back into position in a slightly sickening snap, "It should be fixed in about 10 minutes and I can walk on it now" ,he said getting up and walking upstairs to change

"um ok", Shina said a little dumbstruck, "Oh, we are eating now so please hurry up and get ready"

"ok", Namaru said as he disappeared into the upper part of the house

"Is everything alright", Inoshi asked as Shina reentered the kitchen

"Yeah, he will be down shortly and we can eat" Shina responded, still a little queasy from what she just saw but was guessing that it would soon become the norm around her home. Namaru on the other hand was cleaning himself up and changing his cloths when he realized that he was feeling warm. 'Shit, at this rate it will happen in about a week, not good', he thought to himself as he went to join the Yamanaka family for their noon meal.

* * *

Ok, that is all for now, I will have another chapter out soon, and then I can start dumping onto all the later chapters that I have already written


	10. Chapter 8

Boy, where have I been, well to answer that, not anywhere special. To answer why it has been so long since my last update, that has more to do with computer problems and me getting a job that requires way too much of my time. Hopefully I will update sooner next time, but I doubt it will be in a few days as I lost all my previously written chapters when my comp died. I also had a long period when I just didn't feel like writing, as the last few chapters, before the Gaiden Arc irritated me to no end, I just couldn't take the Sasuke-parading around, DAMN YOU KISHIMOTO AND YOUR FREAKIN GOLDEN BOY

BTW, Me no own Naruto, not that I would want to own the last 100 Chapters, not counting the Gaiden Arc, which I love….cause the Yondaime is a HOT pimp and is so Naruto's daddy, but in the non-sexual way, cause incest bothers me…most of the time.

Master of the House

* * *

He was running down the street, blending in as much as he could as he passed the various people setting up shop for the day. The sun had only been up for an hour now and he had already run around the village 10 times. He still had some of his morning exercises to do, but he planned on cutting them short as he was not quite sure what Asuma had planned for today. Making his way to his private field in the woods, he lit a fire a began to meditate, this time avoiding all human like shapes for fear of becoming more obsessed with certain people. Eventually finishing his meditation and other exercises with jitsus, he returned to the Yamanaka home to find most of them awake, all except Ino. Taking a quick shower and grabbing a bite to eat from the kitchen, he waited patiently for Ino to get up so they could go to Asuma's training location. When the time reached half an hour till the meeting, Namaru became antsy and got the location out of Shina, who said she would go wake Ino and send her along later. After his quiet farewells, he found himself at the location fairly quickly with no one there but a boy roughly his age, lying on the grass watching the clouds facing away from him. Namaru was more than aware of Shikamaru's pastimes, and didn't want to bother him, or more so didn't want to be asked questions by the genius that could reveal his identity, so sitting in a tree branch and hiding his presence with a half hearted effort, wanting to know how good the Chuunin was. Eventually twenty minutes past and Ino came running up to the tree and leaned against it, trying to catch her breath. When she eventually succeeded she leaned against the tree watching something, what, Namaru couldn't tell. Eventually she sighed as Chouji showed up, followed a few minutes latter by Asuma smoking a cigarette.

"Ino, where's the new guy, I thought he was staying with you and your family?", Asuma asked Ino with his usual dislike of tardiness.

"I thought he would be here by now, my mother said he left before I did", Ino said looking around

"He arrived a while ago, but I lost track of him after that", Shikamaru lazily added as he joined the group

"Really, oh well lets start with today's training", Asuma said half bored

"May I join you today", Namaru said indifferently as he appeared out of hiding, causing Asuma and his team to stiffen slightly as they went on guard.

"Namaru?, I take it", Asuma asked, after a nod in response, he said, "Next time make your presence known earlier, I hate tardiness"

"My apologizes"

"Ok, today we are going to work on teamwork, starting with introductions, then a little game", Asuma said with a sadistic grin, "I'll decide on what to train you all on after today's training and I see what Namaru can do"

After ten minutes of introductions, Namaru saying nothing more then he was from outside the village, and was trained by his grandfather, they began there little exercise, hunting Asuma, or closer to reality, hunting him with out being hunted themselves. Ordinarily, a Genin, even Genin with superior talent and experience, had no chance against a Jounin, but three Genin and a Chuunin all with experience and decent talent, could more then be a challenge for a Jounin, even one as powerful as Asuma. The moment that Asuma said to begin, Namaru, threw a smoke bomb and grabbed his two new team mates and fled from the clearing. When the smoke cleared Asuma just smirked and disappeared himself, the game had begun.

A good half mile away from the clearing they had started in, Namaru, his two partners, and unexpectedly to him Shikamaru, appeared.

"Why did you grab us like that!", Ino asked more than a little angry

"Yeah, you nearly choked me with my scarf", Chouji added in, not really angry, just really slightly irritated he was choked

"If we are to hunt him, we need a plan", Namaru said plainly

"And you have one", Ino asked

"Not at the moment, but I can track him easily enough, the smell of his cigarettes are powerful, as is that "unique" cologne"

"Well what about you Shikamaru", Chouji asked

"He's aware of what we can do, but not you, there fore we play your strengths and weaknesses to trick him, how is your taijitsu", Shikamaru asked Namaru

"Upper Chuunin, Lower Jounin level"

"and your gen and ninjitus"

"I know enough to make him nervous, but he knows who my grandfather is so most likely he will have a good idea of what I know, as for genjitsu, I only know a few, none of which are too strong. "

"Ok then, you will track him, Ino you look for traps, Chouji, you watch there backs, once you find him, you are going to drive him back to clearing, which I will be laying in wait."

"How do you suggest we drive him", Ino asked

"Chouji and Namaru are going to fight him in taijitsu only, if they don't use ninjitus, he won't likely use his daggers, which means you should be able to last long enough to get back to the clearing, Ino while they are fighting, you are to keep attacking him with genjitsu and try not to hit Chouji or Namaru with them."

"But my genjitsu isn't powerful for him to fall for it, he should be able to see through them", ignoring the comment

"That's not the point, he will to distracted fighting them and avoiding and shrugging off your genjitsu to notice that I am not anywhere in sight"

"Hmmm, we may not have to track him, he is heading our way", Namaru interrupted, before Ino could get mad

"Do you know how far away he is?", Shikamaru asked

"About a quarter of a mile, but he doesn't exactly have us, it looks like he lost our trail and is now trying a circular search pattern to find it, I suggest you head back to the clearing, I will flush him off our trail and then start tracking"

"How", Chouji asked

"Like this" and Namaru broke into a few seals. A small orb of fire appeared at his feet that then multiplied into four, "head north at a varied moderate speed, and in a minute, begin to burn off your chakra to a noticeable level" and with that the little fire orbs flew off into the woods, "I suggest we move to a new location and begin your plan, Nara-san"

"Alright", Shikamaru said a little curious as to what he had just saw

"When this is over you have to explain what that just was", Ino sound equally curious, but not as reserved and Shikamaru

"As you wish Ino-san", Namaru said and they were off

A minute later, Asuma, who was attempting to pick up their trail again detected a slight emanation of chakra, coming from multiple sources, heading north, "That didn't take long", and headed off after them, not realizing that hot on his trail was Namaru, Ino and Chouji. After several minutes of tracking what he though was his students, he finally caught up with them to realize that they were not his students but strange little orbs of fire. "Well that's odd", he said as he took out another cigarette and lit it, then blocked an incoming kunai with his lighter, "Better than I expected, but you owe me a new lighter", and as he turned around to run, he nearly met a kick to the face by Chouji. As soon as he tried to engage Chouji in taijitsu, Namaru came in a actually landed a blow on Asuma's side, simultaneously taking one of his knives as he really didn't want to have to deal with those. As they fought back and force, Chouji would attack with all his force, his only concern Asuma, while Namaru would perform quick strike attempting to stop blocking, all while Ino performed genjitsu after genjitsu on Asuma, causing him to falter occasionally. They would continue to go back and force, eventually forcing Asuma to move in the direction they wanted, and so far, the plan was working beautifully, until, Chouji actually hit Asuma, square in the chest, causing him to get serious. Drawing is single knife and performing jitsus on them, forced Namaru, to get serious him self. Blocking with his arm guard, he grabbed, Asuma's wrist, while Chouji used the opening to perform a push kick on Asuma, effectively throwing him fifteen feet closer to the clearing. Taking this opportunity, Namaru performed multiple fire jitsu, forcing Asuma to head even closer to the clear, and allowing Chouji to run up to Asuma and begin his assault again. After another ten minutes of fighting, Ino was getting extremely chakra depleted and Chouji was also getting tired of the constant assault. As Chouji began to slow down, Namaru began to pick up the slack, forcing Asuma to focus on him more so then Chouji. Asuma noticing the switch, while being slightly impressed, began to really focus on Chouji. Unexpectedly though, Namaru, kicked Chouji out of the way, surprising Asuma, and then really became serious with his taijitsu, causing Asuma to be fully on guard. The two went back and forth for about thirty seconds, Asuma the better fighter of the two landing far more hits than Namaru, realized his folly, when Chouji rejoined the fray, fully revitalized and just as dangerous as before, if not more so. When they finally reached the clearing, Ino jumped down for the tree and began using the last of her chakra to launch low level, but annoying jitsus at Asuma, waiting for Shikamaru to strike.

After a few more minutes of fighting, Ino was out of the fight and Chouji was tiring again, although Asuma was slowing down a little him self. It was at this time that Namaru noticed Shikamaru concentrating chakra somewhere in the area, as did Asuma, who jumped away from Namaru and into a nearby tree. Jumping after him, Namaru performed a high arc kick after he twisted in the air, a move very specific to his taijitsu style, which forced Asuma to falter for a second, allowing Namaru to kick him to the ground. When he got up, he realized he couldn't move, his shadow was connected to several points coming out of holes all over the area, he was effectively captured.

"Great job, you actually managed me to get serious and still trap me", Asuma said, "Release me and we can all get lunch"

"Do you surrender", Namaru said with deadly seriousness as he placed a large senbon needle to Asuma's corroded artery

"Calm down Namaru, when he tells us how we did, the exercise is over", Shikamaru said

"My apologizes sensei"

"That's ok, always good to be careful", he said rubbed his neck where the needle was poking him, "Come on, lunch my treat", and all five went back to town for food. When the arrived at the Barbeque place, Shikamaru, Chouji and Asuma watched in interest if Namaru was going to take off his mask, but were let down when he only took off the lower jaw revealing his chin and mouth.

"So what's with the mask anyways, I thought it was armor at first, but that doesn't seem to be the case", Shikamaru said very straightforward.

"Shikamaru!, be polite", Ino yelled and hit him in the head, then blushed at the outburst that had everyone in the restaurant looking at her.

"I don't mind Ino-san, to answer your question Nara-san..."

"Shikamaru, just call me Shikamaru, I hate being called Nara-san, makes me sound like my old man"

"Shikamaru-san, you were partially right, it is used as armor, but it also hides my defects caused by my blood line", he said, his voice low

"Defects?"

"I am badly marred all over my body"

"You don't have to tell us any more than that, I am more curious as to who taught you taijitsu, you use a very unique style", Asuma interjected

"I am not allowed to reveal my sensei's name, but you probably have some clue as to what she was"

"I wouldn't have guess until that last kick, I have only seen two others use that move before, the rest of your taijitsu was fairly basic or I couldn't see it very well"

"What type does he use, it looked fairly normal to me?", Ino said as she took a bite of her meal

"Something powerful from what I observed", Chouji said, "What is the style called?"

"Its name is classified, only a select few in the village use it", Asuma said before Namaru could speak, "so in other words, don't ask, and you can't tell them, as you should already be aware"

"Awww, but I wanna know", Ino pouted

"I am more curious about the jitsu you used to trick Asuma-sensei", Shikamaru asked

"It's related to my blood limit, explaining the mechanics of it would take all of the rest of today and half of tomorrow"

"Well anyways you four, meet me tomorrow morning for training, today's exercise told me your ability to work with others is quite excellent, except when you kicked Chouji, but I am guessing that was more so he could rest and take a soldier pill", Asuma said as he got up to leave, Chouji looking a little surprised that Asuma figured it out, and Namaru, well no one could tell what he was thinking as his mask was back together and no one could see his face. After Asuma finished saying his good byes, Ino suggested that they all hang out and get to know each other better, or in reality get Namaru to be around people. Shikamaru, seem entirely put out by the whole thing, which was the usual, Chouji seemed indifferent, although he would like to know about the taijitsu that Namaru used and Namaru himself felt incredibly uncomfortable with the idea. He had no problem being on a team with these people, in fact it was preferable to a lot of other people in the village, but he still was uncomfortable around people. After five minutes of begging/threatening, he gave in and the four of them left. After a quick walk, in which Ino mostly talked about herself, in which her other teammates were bored as they heard this almost all the time, and Namaru glad as he didn't have to talk about himself. They eventually made there way over to the ninja administration building, where they went inside and eventually to a lounge. Namaru became a little uneasy when he realized how many people where inside, even more so when he recognized many of them. In the corner was Kiba arguing with Shino about something, with Akamaru sitting by his master. Tenten, sharpening her weapons, as another girl was talking to her about some subject. Neji sitting near Tenten, trying to be part of the group even though the look on his face said otherwise. Others in the large set of rooms were other genin of various ages, some younger than him and many older. Sitting down with the rest of his group, they all began talking, occasionally asking Namaru questions, who answered what he could, but felt very uneasy with so many people looking at him, but then again the mask was there to protect his identity, and that thought did help somewhat. Eventually he got more accustomed to being around people, that and people stopped starting when Tenten came over after her conversation, curious who the new addition to team 8 was.

"Greeting Shikamaru-kun, Chouji-kun, Ino0chan, who is that with you today", Tenten asked trying to get a better look at the face behind the hood that hid it

"Oh this is Namaru-san, he is staying with my family and is our new team mate", Ino said as she looked up at the other girl and offered her a seat

"Hello, my name is Tenten, nice to meet you", she put out her hand to shake, in which Namaru put out his hand somewhat hesitantly and eventually shook it quickly and pulled his own hand back.

"Tenten and her family are all weapons experts, they forge most of there own stuff" Ino said

"Oh we're not that great, although my aim is near perfect", Tenten bragged slightly, "So, what's under the hood", she asked fairly straight forwardly

"My mask", Namaru said as he pulled back his hood revealing his mask, eyes glowing a soft red, causing Tenten and a few other of the younger Genin's to catch their breath in their throats and a few of the older ones to look on in curiosity. Noticing all the stares, he immediately pulled his hood back up. By the time it was back up, he looked down to notice a medium sized dog sniffing his leg, then backing up to growl at him. He couldn't quite explain what happened next, but he was bending down low and started growling at Akamaru, asking him what his problem was. When Akamaru opened his mouth and said, "You're the fox who claimed my friend", Namaru was speech-less. When no one else seemed to notice the dogs speech, he looked back down at the dog and said, "What do you mean?", he responded by saying, "You smell like the scent on her". Confused at both the fact that he was talking with a dog, and what the dog was apparently saying, "Who?". Everyone else was watching as Namaru was talking to Akamaru, who apparently was answering him back. This might have disturbed them more so, if they didn't normally see Inuzuka's doing it all the time. What happened next was both Akamaru and Namaru simultaneously raise there heads and turn towards the door, at which point Akamaru ran to the door running fast, tail wagging and Namaru, slinking back into his chair. The Door opened a moment later to reveal a group of medical nin students, one of which being Hyuuga Hinata, causing Akamaru to jump up and bark happily at her and Namaru to slink even further back into his chair. Everyone's eyes now on the barking dog, didn't notice his behavior, except one, Ino. She leaned over and asked him what was wrong; his response was a sort of mumble. Eventually Hinata, greeted her teammates, said her hello's to a few other people in the room and eventually work her over to Ino and her group.

"Greetings everyone", Hinata said with a bow, Shikamaru and Chouji nodded a hello and Ino greeting her in a friendly manner, Namaru trying to hide himself.

"So how was you training today, learn any new jitsu", Ino asked

"Nothing just yet, I am learned better control at the moment from my new mentor, a medic Nin named Shizune-sensei"

"O-Ne..", Namaru started to say, but the shut his mouth

"Do you know her Namaru-san", Hinata asked

"Sh-she was one oo-of my traveling c-c-companions, my O-Nee-san" Namaru said in a stuttery hurry

"Really, is she your real sister, cause she doesn't cover her self like you", Ino asked

"No, sh-she is not my real sister, but I do l-like to think of her as such"

"Do you have any other family"

"Just my O-Ji-sama, the rest are dead or have abandoned me", said calming himself down as the memory of his better half still depressed him greatly

"Thanks awful", Hinata said out loud in a matter of fact way

"It is not that bad, besides some of us in the world deserve to be alone, excuse I have to go", and with that, before anyone could answer, he got up and disappeared in a pillar of flame. After the shock of seeing a person burst into flame for a moment then suddenly disappear, Kiba came over to Hinata and told her, "Stay away from him, he doesn't smell right, and what Akamaru has told me worries me" after which he left as well, leaving a very dumbstruck Hinata, Ino and the rest of the group.

The Hokage was in her office, doing what she usually did, avoid any real responsibility and procrastinate on her paperwork, when there was a knock at her door.

"Come in", she said somewhat in a panic as she tried to look busy

"I have come to report another change in my condition", Namaru said as he came in, not bothering with pleasant greetings

"What is the change you have come to report, physical, mental or other", she said half joking as she was just glad it wasn't one of her assistants coming to check if she was working hard or hardly working. "Seriously thou, is it something that could possibly threaten the village or your identity"

"My identity is in jeopardy, I discovered that I can speak with dogs today, when an Inuzuka dog came up to me and chatted with me. He didn't know who I was, but he did identify as a fox, which has me concerned as older dogs and family members of the Inuzuka clan my recognize me via scent, or at least make a connection to the fox."

"Hmm, this is a problem… for now I want you to do nothing, but I do have an idea how to handle this. I was going to tell you tomorrow, but since you are here now, I might as well tell you, tomorrow I am declassifying that Naruto has been killed and will release that information to certain people in a few days, there will be a service at the end of the week"

"What if someone asks me about it, as I did supposedly travel with him"

"Tell the truth, for the most part, he died protecting you, just tell them that it happened six months ago, which is the official date"

"Yes Hokage-sama", he said as he got up to leave

"By the way, I am inviting his old team to the funeral, does this bother you"

"No", he said with an incredibly low voice suppress great amounts of rage as he dug his claws into the palms of his hands.

The rest of the week went on in a similar fashion, he would train in the morning, go to his team meeting/training session with Asuma, which turned out to be a better workout then he expected and then would return in the afternoon to the Yamanaka residence and would rest, after which he would go back out for more training in the woods with Rock Lee and would be back for dinner lest Shina beat him over the head, which she threatened if he were ever late. Two days before the funeral, the messengers were traveling around giving out invitations for the funeral to several people and families, not that Namaru expected that many people to show. The Yamanaka's had gone out for the evening to join the Nara's and Akamichi's for a big get together, which he was invited too, but declined as he felt he would feel out of place. It had been raining for half an hour when he heard a knock at the door, opening it, expecting to see a messenger, he found a soaking wet Hyuuga girl cry her eye's out, asking for Ino.

"H-H-Hinata-san, are you alright?", He asked as he was still unsure how to act around her

"Ino, I need to see Ino, please", she cried in total despair

"I'm sorry she's not here right now, can I-I help you", He asked, smelling the chemical markers of despair and sadness coming off of her. She immediately grabbed on to him pushing him to the floor crying into his chest, saying over and over again that he was dead, he was dead. Squeezing him tightly he didn't know what to do.

* * *

Ok, that's all for this chapter, I'll write the next one when I get the chance, hopefully soon 


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